In a chilling revelation amid surging Russia cyber attacks on the UK in 2025, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince accuses Moscow of orchestrating devastating hacks on British firms, exploiting the Gaza conflict cyber chaos as a cunning diversion.

Heathrow hack disruptions grounded flights, while Jaguar Land Rover cyber attack halted production for over two months, and Marks & Spencer faced 15 weeks of online order blackouts, crippling the economy.

Russian fingerprints in UK cyber onslaught

Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare—which safeguards more than a fifth of the internet—delivered a stark verdict on 30 October 2025, linking a wave of high-profile breaches to Russia. ‘I think most of the high-profile attacks, if you trace them back, you’re going to find Russian fingerprints,’ he told City AM.

‘Not on all—some are 15-year-old hacker kids which, it turns out, the UK is good at producing. But… I think the largest sower of chaos behind them is Russia because that’s what they are, sowers of chaos.’ This aligns with Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ 23 September 2025 statement tying recent threats to Moscow, urging businesses to bolster defences.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reported 204 nationally significant incidents in the year to 31 August 2025, a 129 per cent rise from 89 the prior year, with Russian state actors prominent. Pro-Russia hackers UK, in messages to The Observer on 19 October 2025, pledged to ‘disrupt UK businesses and infrastructure’ amid escalating tensions. Prince’s insights, drawn from global threat monitoring, underscore Moscow’s hybrid warfare evolution, where cyber tools sow discord without direct confrontation.

As UK cyber security Gaza cover unravels, firms face a ‘highly sophisticated‘ threat from Russia and allies, per NCSC’s 14 October 2025 annual review. This narrative paints Russia not as a mere actor, but a deliberate architect of digital mayhem, forcing Britain to confront invisible fronts.

Gaza conflict as cyber smokescreen

The Hamas-Israel conflict ignited a cyber inferno, with Prince pinpointing it as the catalyst for Europe’s attack surge on 30 October 2025. ‘What caused the attacks in Europe to take off, was the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. Because that provided a proxy where the Russians had—at least—a cover story that it wasn’t them [behind cyber attacks], it was the Iranians,’ he explained.

This Gaza cover cyber tactic echoes broader patterns, as Russian gangs—once paralysed by Ukraine infighting—exploited Middle East turmoil for deniability. A 11 March 2025 X post by defence analyst @Jeff21461 highlighted hacker group Dark Storm, a pro-Palestinian outfit with alleged Russian ties, claiming a major breach: ‘It gets better; hacker group Dark Storm claimed responsibility for the attack. They are a pro-Palistinian group with alleged ties to Russia.’

NCSC’s 14 October 2025 review flags Iranian-linked activity, potentially masking Russian operations amid the Gaza conflict cyber haze. Experts like former MI5 head Eliza Manningham-Buller warned on 29 September 2025 that Britain may already be at war with Russia via cyber and sabotage.

British icons reel from Russian-backed hacks

Iconic UK brands bore the brunt, with Heathrow’s breach on 20 September 2025 sparking flight chaos and exposing aviation frailties. Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber attack, over two months unresolved as of 30 October 2025, idled factories and slashed output, echoing economic scars from prior disruptions.

Marks & Spencer endured 15 weeks without click-and-collect, emptying shelves and eroding consumer trust amid the cyber sower chaos. A BBC survey on 5 October 2025 estimated 612,000 businesses hit by breaches, with costs soaring into billions. Russian hackers UK infiltrated sensitive bases, per 23 October 2025 reports, breaching RAF sites housing US nuclear assets.

These assaults, blending state craft and crime, threaten supply chains and sovereignty, urging a resilient digital fortress against Moscow’s shadow incursions.

Originally published on IBTimes UK