MI5 chief warns Britain of threats from Russia, Iran and AI

Sir Ken McCallum says counter-terrorism and state threat operations are now at roughly an "equal scale"

By Frank Gardner, security correspondent, reporting from Thames House and Adam Goldsmith

MI5 is devoting more resources to countering state threats than it did during the Cold War, the head of the US intelligence service said.

Sir Ken McCallum said threats from foreign enemies had quadrupled in the past decade, with Russia "the number one aggressor" as well as increased Iran-linked aggression against Jewish military sites and bases.

In an annual speech in London, the head of MI5 said Russia was fighting hybrid warfare at a time when artificial intelligence is raising the cybersecurity competition between attackers and defenders.

He also warned of rising threats from "far-right terrorism", saying MI5 had "caught terrorists seeking to exploit artificial intelligence, including by integrating the technology with drones".

He said the biggest threat from the misuse of artificial intelligence is by extremist groups who use the technology to harness new and existing biological weapons.

However, he noted that work to counter terrorism and state threats was now "almost on an equal scale", which he described as a "big change" in recent years.

Sir Ken said Russia had shied away from a "conventional conflict" against Nato and was instead trying to destabilize European countries while its progress on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine was "minimal and horrendously costly".

Hybrid warfare, or hybrid attacks, are indirect terms that typically describe civilian methods of cyber, sabotage, or disinformation attacks designed to pressure and destabilize an adversary.

These are often deployed using proxies, but Russia has always denied involvement in such attacks, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

Sir Ken said MI5's successes in identifying and expelling Russian spies from the UK had left the Kremlin dependent on paying proxy fees to carry out attacks.

"With its traditional covert footprint of almost 1,000 expulsions since the invasion, the Kremlin's global tools are weak," he said.

"So we see them scrambling to pay criminals to do their bidding."

He added: These are not the actions of a great power with a strategic upper hand.

His comments come as a growing number of leaders across Europe have warned that Russia may be preparing attacks to test its commitment to support Ukraine.

Asked about Prime Minister Andy Burnham's recent comments about Russia's meddling in the Brexit referendum, Sir Ken said it was "no news" that attempts had been made by Moscow, but drew a distinction between "attempted interference" and "the outcome".

He said it was a matter of public record in the Russian media and "so-called internet trolls and bot farms" seeking to influence the Brexit debate, but also stressed that the 2016 referendum result was "not controversial".

He added that he was "concerned" by the ongoing discussions about Russian involvement.

"I'm a little," he told reporters: "We're worried about not playing into the hands of our enemies by making these trolls look like they're 10 feet tall."

Meanwhile, Sir Ken warned that Iran was also developing a hybrid campaign in the UK.

The head of intelligence said that last year 50 people were arrested for activities related to Iran.

Most of these Iranian aggressions have been against Jewish communities, as well as "harder targets such as military sites," Sir Ken added.

Sir Ken did not directly refer to the arrests at RAF Fairford during his speech, but told reporters afterwards that the incident was "not unique".

He added: We have seen Iran's interests beyond RAF Fairford in Britain.

The incident at an air base in Gloucester, where three suspicious vans were parked nearby, led to seven people being arrested and bailed by counter-terrorism police.

Burnham said the incident was "almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."

The MI5 chief said in his speech: "What I can say is that those who seek to cause mayhem on the streets of Britain - whether hired thugs here or their hirelings abroad - will face a tough response."

Sir Ken added that the National Security Act - a 2023 law designed to target people who work against British interests for foreign powers - is being used heavily and has been deployed to deal with threats from China as well as Iran and Russia.

On the emerging threat of artificial intelligence, Sir Ken said: "It can generate tailored propaganda and radicalization material.

"We have caught terrorists looking to exploit Al to improve their reconnaissance and attack methods, with Al-enabled drones adding a new twist."

Sir Ken said the bioweapons threat posed by AI was "not yet realized" but warned the technology had "the potential to transform the stakes".

"These are real risks. The UK intelligence community - MI5, GCHQ, MI6 - is working closely with the UK's AI Global Security Institute to tackle them."

Sir Ken said artificial intelligence poses unknown threats, telling Thames House: "Put simply, human history has given us no experience of dealing with an actor smarter than us."

He announced that MI5 had set up an AI threat assessment centre, which he said would assess resources and "separate hype from reality".

In April, the UK's terror threat level rose sharply for the first time in five years, meaning an attack is very likely.

Sir Ken said Islamist groups such as al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State both continued to direct and inspire attacks, while the increased risk was also posed "significantly" by far-right terrorism.

He continued: Over the past year, the most obvious trend has been the increase in cases where extreme versions of anti-immigration and Muslim discontent lead to terrorist intent.

Sir Ken said internet-driven far-right terrorism tended to be "young perversion" - adding that MI5 had been investigating a "radicalised far-right extremist" in recent months. 13-year-old here in the UK.

He said: "This investigation provided insight that enabled one of our international partners to prevent a deadly attack on their soil."