Britain's defense minister says his agency's computer systems fended off more than a thousand cyber attacks in the past year.

Liam Fox said late Tuesday in a speech that his agency fights “a continuous battle” to keep hostile forces out of computer networks. He said criminals, some foreign intelligence services, and other malicious elements are responsible for the attacks. He said the threat to defense is real and he takes it very seriously.

Fox said last year the British government spent millions of dollars on defenses against such attacks.