New research conducted by the International Cyber Expo has found that most people in Britain (72%) believe cyber warfare will be the next evolution of modern combat.
Around 2,000 UK consumers were surveyed, revealing a deepening public concern over the role of cyber warfare in future conflicts, with fears that attacks on critical infrastructure could become a regular feature of modern warfare.
With ongoing geopolitical tensions and rising cyber-attacks globally, more than half (52%) of respondents predict future where cyber warfare supplements physical military tactics — meanwhile, 20% believe cyber ops could surpass traditional warfare altogether.
Conversely, only 5% remain confident that cyber warfare will never replace physical combat.
The research also highlights the possibility of cyber warfare escalating into an ongoing threat, with 6% of respondents believing that the world is already in the midst of a cyber war.
Critical infrastructure
The report also highlights the specific types of cyber threats that most concern the British public.
More than half (54%) of respondents feared cyber-attacks impacting critical national infrastructure (CNI) — including utilities, healthcare, and law enforcement.
This comes after high-profile incidents such as the June 2024 cyber-attack on Synnovis, which disrupted NHS services and led to the cancellation of over 200 life-saving operations.
Other significant concerns cited by respondents include nation-state cyber activities (43%), the use of AI in online scams (33%), and the impact of disinformation on global politics (31%).
Is cyber warfare the future?
Tarquin Folliss, vice chairman of the Security and Special Interest Group (SASIG), said cyberspace represents a “perfect grey zone” where conflicts between state and non-state actors may intensify, creating a greater risk of miscalculation.
“Cyberwarfare is unlikely to develop as an independent capability or effect. The weaponisation of cyberspace will continue to evolve as one component of the armoury that governments can call on to prosecute war,” said Folliss.
Despite the UK government investing £54.2 billion in defence for the 2023/24 financial year, public sentiment suggests that future battlefronts will likely be digital.
For further analysis of the weaponisation of everyday technology, TechInformed spoke with former FBI agents and an ethical hacker to explore the possibilities after pagers and other handheld devices were detonated remotely in Lebanon.
