Markus Andrews

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreSir Keir Starmer ruled out discussing a return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece in his meeting with his Greek counterpart on Tuesday despite claims from Athens that progress had been made on the issue.While Downing Street insisted that the ancient sculptures would not be on the agenda for the bilateral meeting between the Sir Keir and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a Greek government official said progress has been made and it will be discussed further on Tuesday.The Greek official told The Times: “Progress for the return of the Parthenon marbles has been made by the two sides and that is why Mitsotakis is meeting today with the British prime minister. Nothing is in hiding. Nothing is hidden.”But ahead of the meeting, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “It’s not going to be on the prime minister’s agenda. His focus will be on support for Ukraine, the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza.”( More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreThe UK’s reliance on technology across government, businesses and people’s personal lives has left us more vulnerable to potentially devastating online attacks, the head of the cyber security agency warned.National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) chief Richard Horne said the threat was “getting broader and in some parts deeper”, with online criminals and state-backed hackers from countries such as Russia and China looking to exploit vulnerabilities.He said since taking on the role at the NCSC in October, he was both more concerned because of the “stark truth about the risk” but also more reassured because of the strength of the UK’s cyber defence community.The head of the NCSC, part of the GCHQ intelligence agency, told the PA news agency: “We’re seeing the threat getting broader and in some parts, deeper.“So where it’s getting broader is we’re seeing more and more cyber criminals able to have quite devastating effects on organisations and customers of those organisations, or people who rely on those services.”And “in some cases, it is going deeper” with more sophisticated attacks being carried out around the world, he added.“That tends to be more in the theatre of war, as it were, but there’s always the possibility of that sort of those really sophisticated attacks spilling over, which we’ve seen in the past.”In Russia, Vladimir Putin’s government and state-aligned hackers have sought to target countries including Ukraine to support the war there – but also Nato members including the UK.Mr Horne said: “In some ways, the breadth of threat is really criminals, and those criminals might be in Russia, and they might be kind of state-aligned rather than state-directed.“But the breadth of threats that most organisations in the UK need to think about is criminal threat, and especially ransomware, because of the devastation it can cause.”Hackers from China have been blamed for hacking the Electoral Commission’s database and targeting MPs’ emails.Mr Horne told PA: “China are a very capable cyber actor and they’re certainly establishing their position in the world.“And for us it comes back to: where are we exposed, where are we vulnerable, how are we managing our risk?“As geopolitics unfolds and different actors assert their position more, we need to be ready to assert our position, and part of that is defence.”The last government took action to remove Chinese firm Huawei from the UK’s 5G mobile network because of security concerns.But with the proliferation of Chinese technology across all aspects of life, Mr Horne insisted the country that technology originated from was not the main factor in determining risk.He said: “I think in some ways, one of my colleagues had a great expression, ‘the flag is not a great indicator of risk’.“It’s more a case of ‘what is that technology taking out and what information is leaving’ and it’s not necessarily going to one place or another and it doesn’t really matter, from the perspective of defence, where it’s going because attackers can misuse it.“It’s more a case of more and more technology is impeding on our lives, we are depending on it more, and as a result, data is leaving us to go elsewhere, and that’s very much part of the risk we need to understand.”The NCSC’s annual review showed a threefold increase in the most serious cyber incidents affecting the UK in 2023-24, but Mr Horne warned the danger is still being “widely underestimated” by both public and private sector organisations and individuals.Asked whether it was the Government, companies or individuals failing to understand the risk, Mr Horne said: “I think it’s everyone … The extent to which technology is taking our information and moving it elsewhere, the extent to which organisations rely on their supply chains, and those supply chains have all sorts of risks that they haven’t considered.“The extent to which organisations apply basic security controls consistently everywhere and not just at the core – they all kind of add up to not properly understanding the extent of exposure and the extent of vulnerability.“And at the same time, the threat is getting broader. So add all of that together and it’s a growing risk.”Mr Horne joined NCSC from professional services giant PwC in October. Asked whether he was more concerned or more reassured as a result of his time at the cyber defence agency, he said: “I think you’re more concerned because you do see the stark truth about the risk, but more reassured because there is so much happening.”The NCSC was part of a cyber defence community “and I think if there’s one thing we have in this country that is probably better than anywhere else, it’s the way we can pull together as that community across all parts of society and protect ourselves together”.In a speech launching the agency’s annual review at its headquarters in London, Mr Horne said the UK relied on online infrastructure “to keep the lights on and the water running, to improve our public services, to keep businesses running, and to drive our growth and prosperity”.“But those critical systems and services make attractive targets for hostile states and malicious actors in cyberspace.“They are increasingly using our technology dependence against us, seeking to cause maximum disruption and destruction.” More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreThe new secretary-general of Nato has warned Donald Trump not to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal that would see the leaders of Russia and Iran “high-fiving”. Mark Rutte also warned such an agreement would create a “dire security threat not only to Europe but also to the US.” The next US President has repeatedly claimed that he would bring peace to Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.While he has yet to reveal details of his plan to end the war, hints that Ukraine would be forced to make significant concessions to its Russian invaders have worried Nato countries.In a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Rutte urged allies to increase military aid for Ukraine to strengthen Kyiv’s position should it enter negotiations with Moscow. Donald Trump during a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in September More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreRussia, China and other hostile actors are exploiting the UK’s dependence on technology to cause “maximum disruption and destruction”, Britain’s cyber security chief has warned.In his first major speech, Richard Horne, head of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), highlighted the “widening gap” between the threats facing the UK – from both state-backed hackers and online criminals – and the defences in place to protect businesses and public services.Speaking at the launch of the NCSC’s annual review in London, he said the UK must wake up to Russia’s online “aggression and recklessness”, as well as the risks posed by “highly sophisticated” Chinese hackers. “The UK has one of the world’s most advanced digital economies”, he said, adding: “Those critical systems and services make attractive targets for hostile states and malicious actors in cyber space.“They are increasingly using our technology dependence against us, seeking to cause maximum disruption and destruction”.Richard Horne will replace Lindy Cameron as chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreLabour is considering capping political donations by individuals and private companies amid reports Elon Musk will hand a $100m donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.The Tesla tycoon is said to be plotting the £79m donation, which would be by far the largest in British electoral history, via the British arm of his social media firm X.According to The Sunday Times, leading businessmen and Conservative Party officials believe Musk could hand over the cash as a “f*** you Starmer payment” in his ongoing feud with the prime minister.It would give Mr Farage’s insurgent Reform a significant financial advantage over Labour and the Conservatives and be enough to fund a near-endless barrage of attack ads against the government.But the government is considering recommendations in an upcoming report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank that would cap individual and corporate political donations at £100,000 a year.Elon Musk is reportedly considering handing a $100m donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK More