UK to create 'cyber strike force' Members of the Joint Cyber Reserve will provide support to the Joint Cyber Unit (Corsham), the Joint Cyber Unit (Cheltenham) and other information assurance units across Defence. Recruiting for the Joint Cyber Reserve will begin in October and target three sectors: regular personnel leaving the Armed Forces, current and former reservists with the necessary skills, and individuals with no previous military experience, but with the technical knowledge, skills, experience and aptitude to work in this highly-specialised area. Cyber weapons are being used as an advantage in real-world conflict. Regions have their own set of cyber weapons, which they will use to their advantage when it comes to a conflict or to help their allies," said Kenneth Geers, senior global threat analyst at security firm FireEye. The world is at cyber war with attacks in every direction and location. Cyber shots are fired in peacetime for immediate geopolitical ends, as well as to prepare for possible future kinetic attacks. Professor John Arquilla of the Naval Postgraduate School added that the biggest challenge to deterring, defending against, or retaliating to cyber attacks is the problem of correctly identifying the perpetrator. "Ballistic missiles come with return addresses, but computer viruses, worms, and denial of service attacks often emanate from behind a veil of anonymity," said Arquilla. "The best chance to pierce this veil comes with the skillful blending of forensic 'back hacking' techniques with deep knowledge of others" strategic cultures and their geopolitical aims."