China, North Korea among world's most worrying countries in terms of cyber security threats: British official

China and North Korea are among the most worrying countries in the world when it comes to cybersecurity threats, but that is not the full extent of the risk, the head of the British government's National Cyber ​​Security Centre (NCSC) said in an interview with a Tokyo-headquartered publication.

Oswald, NCSC COO and interim CEO, said he is concerned about the growth of cyber challenges.

“We are concerned by the increasing proliferation of cyber threats that allow any country in the world to purchase cyber, malware or other threats to attack us or businesses in our countries,” Oswald told Nikkei.

Responding to an assessment of China's cyber capabilities and potential risks, he said his focus was primarily on cyber threats.

“But the approach of Chinese actors in cyberspace over the last 18 months should worry all of us,” he added.

He said there were other worrying signs for Britain about China's attitude in cyberspace.

“We're particularly concerned about China's approach to vulnerabilities under the national security law. So in China, if someone finds a vulnerability in software, they have to first report it to the government. To us, that goes against longstanding practices and procedures in the cybersecurity community where when you find a vulnerability, it's shared by default for the general public good,” Oswald said.

He further said that the threats emanate from criminal elements as well as nation states around the world, including Russia.

“The cyber threat we face comes from criminal elements and nation states around the world, including Russia,” he said.

He said the National Cyber ​​Security Centre mainly talks about four major countries – China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

“We are concerned by the growing proliferation of cyber threats that allow any country in the world to purchase cyber, malware or other threats to attack us or businesses in our countries,” he said.