Recent briefs from the United States, the UK and their satellites, including the NATO military alliance, demonstrate increased interest in boosting defensive and offensive capabilities in cyberspace. To justify this (and raise budgets), old myths about Russian and Chinese threats are being put on the table, although there are also noticeable tendencies to gain control over their own citizens.
According to Taiwan’s legislature, the country is now fending off more than 2.4 million cyberattacks daily, a figure that has doubled in just one year. Taiwan Intelligence assessments attribute most of the activity to Chinese advanced persistent threat groups. The warnings in April from Western intelligence agencies (that is, the promotion of an anti-Chinese narrative) have further highlighted the threat. Notably, it is claimed that the spyware tools “BADBAZAAR” and “MOONSHINE” are being deployed by Chinese actors to conduct surveillance on Taiwanese independence advocates and civil society figures. These tools allow adversaries to extract personal data and monitor communications in real-time, posing serious risks to human rights defenders and the political process.
Besides, Taiwan’s intelligence agency has raised the alarm over China’s use of generative AI to conduct large-scale disinformation operations. Officials say Beijing is leveraging AI tools to flood Taiwanese social media with divisive narratives, particularly around sensitive political moments.
In response, President Lai Ching-te’s administration is advancing several major cybersecurity reforms. The centrepiece is the “7th National Cybersecurity Development Program”, which aims to train cybersecurity personnel, upgrade defences in public institutions, and improve citizen awareness. The flagship initiative under this strategy is the new “National Cybersecurity Center,” which is scheduled to open in August. According to the plan, this institution will serve as a center for detecting and responding to emerging threats, including those related to artificial intelligence and quantum computing technology.
In addition, legislative reforms are currently underway. Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs is working to update relevant legislation to extend protection obligations to the private sector and improve reporting and response protocols in Taiwan’s digital ecosystem.
Within the ‘National Hope Project’, the Ministry has established three key digital policy focuses: “Strengthening Anti-Fraud Measures,” “Enhancing Digital Resilience,” and “Developing the Digital Economy.” These initiatives aim to strengthen the digital governance framework, maximizing benefits while mitigating risks.
NATO, in turn, suggested including expenditures on cybersecurity and activities related to border and coastal security to qualify for the military alliance’s new defense-related spending target of 1.5% of GDP.
The Bloc has already started negotiations with countries on what will be allowed under its new spending target that it plans to adopt at a June summit, according to a document shared with member countries. The total spending target will be 5% of GDP, with 3.5% on hard defense expenditures and 1.5% on defense-related outlays.
According to the document, other expenditures that may qualify for the 1.5% portion will be protecting critical infrastructure spending, non-defense intelligence agencies and space-related activities.
They think there that a broader definition of what qualifies as a defense-related outlay would make it easier for countries to meet the target, with some nations lobbying to have expenditures such as counter-terrorism to be included.
Although the general course of NATO is obvious, it is directed against Russia.
In the same context, British Defence Secretary John Healey earlier announced that the UK military would combine cyber and electronic operations under a single command as part of a large-scale reorganization of high-tech military equipment. The Ministry of Defense also plans to spend more than 1 billion pounds on developing a system based on artificial intelligence to analyze and filter huge amounts of data generated in the military field.
A new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command will sit under the country’s Strategic Command which is already responsible for the offensive and defensive cyber capabilities of the British Ministry of Defense. Together with the special operations forces, this Command wil “lead defensive cyber operations and coordinate offensive cyber capabilities with the National Cyber Force,” according to the official statement of the Ministry.
John Healey could not help but mention Russia, adding that “we will give our Armed Forces the ability to act at speeds never seen before – connecting ships, aircraft, tanks and operators so they can share vital information instantly and strike further and faster.” It should be noted that under the new accelerated program announced in February 2025, cyber warriors in the UK will undergo only a shortened form of basic training – four weeks instead of the usual 10, and then spend three months studying military cyber skills.
Judging by the news, the US military is also undergoing extensive reforms.
It was reported in May 2025 that as the US military makes big bets on 5G and future 6G networks for everything from streamlining supply lines to controlling combat robots, it doesn’t want to be beholden to the handful of huge tech firms that dominate the market today. So the Pentagon will soon seek bids to develop prototype “open” software — code that any company can freely access and deploy on its devices — in hopes of breaking down barriers to innovation.
US Congress also directed Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN) to elevate to a sub-unified command under Cybercom in the fiscal 2025 annual defense policy bill. It was noted that “this action aligns with the 2025 Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance to prioritize the command’s secure, operate, and defend the DODIN mission and enable U.S. Military Forces to deliver lethal effects when and where most needed.”
It is about increasing readiness and resiliency of the DODIN and those forces who conduct network operations, security, and defense activities in the face of the rapid pace of technological advances and the increasing abilities of cyber adversaries.
Meanwhile”, the CIA is considering how to improve its intelligence gathering. The Washington Post writes, that “the CIA’s success in recruiting foreigners to share vital secrets with the United States has declined sharply in recent years, the officials said. Recruitment of new agents has dropped by double-digit percentages since 2019, one former official said. The precise numbers are highly classified… Signals intelligence gathered by the National Security Agency, including intercepted phone calls, texts and emails, is a bedrock of intelligence collection and contributes to at least 60 percent of articles in the president’s daily brief, U.S. officials say. But an effective spy program needs both human and electronic intelligence, as well as other technical collection, such as imagery.” That said, the outlet cites one CIA official as saying that “Today’s digital environment poses as many opportunities as it does challenges.”
Trump’s administration has also focused on domestic political issues and has signed new contracts with the well-known Palantir company, which previously received more than $113 million from the federal government under contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. In addition, there is also a contract worth $ 795 million, which the Department of Defense signed with the company in May 2025.
Palantir’s key product, called Foundry, has already been submitted to at least four federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services. The White House suggests that the widespread adoption of the Foundry application, which collects and analyzes data, will help combine information from different agencies and departments.
In fact, we are talking about creating detailed portraits of American citizens based on government data, including their bank account numbers, debt amounts, their medical records, etc.
Democratic lawmakers and Trump critics suggest that such information could be potentially used to advance Trump’s political agendas. Privacy advocates, student unions and labor rights organizations have filed lawsuits to block data access, questioning whether the government could weaponize people’s personal information.
Some government officials claim that Palantir’s selection as a chief vendor for the project was driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, At least three DOGE members formerly worked at Palantir, while two others had worked at companies funded by Peter Thiel, an investor and a founder of Palantir. And the company itself, from the moment of its establishment in 2003, was associated with the CIA and the US law enforcement agencies.
In other words, c And waving a cyberbaton, whether it’s the UK, NATO, or some US satellite, is unlikely to stop independent sovereign states from their own counter-initiatives. Rather, on the contrary.
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