AS relations between the UK and Russia have nosedived following the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury we’ve already seen the expulsion of diplomats on both sides. The UK, which has held the Kremlin responsible for the attack involving the nerve agent Novichok, is also attempting to freeze the assets of wealthy Russian oligarchs living a life of luxury in London.

All of this raises the prospect of a new Cold War and while actual military conflict appears unlikely, a so-called ‘Cyber war’ could be more of a reality. That’s according to Professor Alastair Irons, Dean of Computer Science at Sunderland University, who knows more than most what this could entail.

“As dependency on digital infrastructure increases then the impact of potential exploits on those vulnerabilities increases,” he explains. “So therefore Cyber war is a very real threat, with the UK under constant threat of attack.”

In 2007 Russia was allegedly behind a series of cyber attacks on Estonia, mainly distributed denial of service attacks, which comprise the bombardment of simultaneous data requests to a central server, generated from multiple compromised systems.

The ultimate aim is to crash the target’s system and disrupt its business. In this instance the attacks were so profound that they disabled the economic infrastructure of Estonia.

Meanwhile, last year Russian ally North Korea was blamed by ministers for the WannaCry ransomware which crippled a third of NHS healthcare trusts, leading to the cancellation of almost 7,000 appointments.

Prof Irons says cyber attackers can be sponsored by nation states, being given large financial backing and the technical resources and expertise to disrupt and disable infrastructure.

“Recent political events have drawn our attention to potential cyber attacks from Russia, but any nation state with the technical capability could launch a cyber attack,” he says. “Worryingly what we call advanced persistent threats don’t only come from nation states, but can also come from ‘lone wolf’ attackers or from ‘hactivist’ groups.”

Increasingly the nation’s critical infrastructure has become digitised, for example utilities, transport, banking, commerce and defence, all being potential targets for those who seek to do us harm. However attacks may not happen overnight and have an immediate impact, they can occur over the medium to long term, says Prof Irons.

“One of the real dangers in the cyber world is that we can be victims without even knowing it. Research has shown that on average it takes eight months for an individual or business to become aware that they are the victim of a cyber attack. Many examples of malicious software can lie dormant in systems for long periods of time before they are eventually initiated.

“Attacks may also not just be against critical national infrastructure, but also against organisations – either against their ability to trade, their competitive economic advantage or against their intellectual property, possibly eliminating years of crucial research and development. Every individual and every organisation, including Government intelligence agencies such as GCHQ, are potential targets.”

Last year in response to demand the university began a new postgraduate MSc Cyber Security programme.

It draws on the institution’s innovation, research and expertise in this area and equips students with the tools to combat online crime and cyber crime incidents. Cyber security is now also embedded into all of the university’s undergraduate computer sciences programmes.

“Education is a key aspect in creating a cyber secure UK and addressing the cyber skills gap,” says Prof Irons.

The Government recently released an updated cyber security strategy which hopes to make the UK secure and resilient to cyber threats, and prosperous and confident in the digital world.

A new National Cyber Security Centre has also been opened to identify threats against individuals and organisations.

“The UK needs to defend itself against cyber attacks, deter potential attackers and develop the cyber skills to realise the Government’s strategy,” adds Prof Irons. “We have taken major steps in defending the country against large scale cyber attacks and contingency plans have been put in place to enable continuity in the face of a serious attack.

“However, there is always more that can be done in terms of preparation and prevention, and also raising the awareness of citizens, as well as businesses and industries about the threats that are out there.”