LONDON -- The Islamic State (ISIS) doesn't have the capability to launch a deadly cyberattack against the UK, but the group is working towards getting it, Britain warned on Tuesday.
Chancellor for the Exchequer George Osborne said ISIS wants to exploit the Internet to attack infrastructure, such as air traffic control systems, power stations and hospitals.
"ISIL are already using the Internet for hideous propaganda purposes; for radicalisation, for operational planning too," Osborne said in a speech at British intelligence headquarters GCHQ.
"They have not been able to use it to kill people yet by attacking our infrastructure through cyberattack," he said. "They do not yet have that capability. But we know they want it, and are doing their best to build it."
If such cyberattacks occurred, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic "damage but of lives lost."
.@George_Osborne says total "cyber spending" will be almost £3.2bn to increase our "sovereign capabilities" online https://t.co/MWXdsNKhzF— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 17, 2015
Osborne told GCHQ he's doubling the amount of funds devoted to preventing cybercrime -- committing to a spend of £1.9 billion by 2020.
David Cameron announced on Tuesday an extra £2 billion in funding for the SAS and other special units between now and 2020, which will fund new weapons and other equipment.
"Britain, France and our allies around the world will never be cowed by terrorism," he told the Lord Mayor of London's Banquet. "We will only redouble our resolve to defeat it."