According to a report by Reuters on October 13, Ken McAlum, head of intelligence at the UK's MI5, delivered an annual speech that outlined his views on the threats facing the UK. These threats included hostile nations such as Iran and Russia, as well as the development of artificial intelligence.
In his speech, McCallum referred to Russia as the “number one aggressor”. Russia denied any hostile actions against the United Kingdom and other Western countries. He stated that Russia is escalating its “hybrid war” while keeping it below a level where NATO would directly respond. He said that since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, 1,000 officials have been expelled from embassies, which “weaken Russia’s capabilities” and means that it has to rely on domestic volunteers and criminal agents.
McCallum also said that Iran is using criminal agents to target Israeli interests in the UK, and has expanded its activities over the past year. He stated that actions related to Iran have led to the arrest of more than 50 people in the UK, many of whom were targeting Jewish communities. He mentioned another shift, which is “Iran’s attempt to attack more difficult targets, such as military installations.” Iran also denies accusations of carrying out malicious activities in the UK.
Regarding artificial intelligence, McCallum stated that it is “intensifying the cyber security competition between attackers and defenders,” and tailoring promotional content and materials for individuals. MI6 has discovered that potential attackers are using artificial intelligence to “improve reconnaissance and attack methods.” He said that AI-enabled drones pose new challenges, and the biggest concern is that terrorists could develop biological weapons or even create new pathogens. “In short, humanity will face a behavior agent that is smarter and capable of surpassing us in terms of cognition, something never happened before in human history. This is indeed a completely new issue that deserves serious attention.”
In addition, the UK elevated the threat level of national terrorism to 'severe' in April, indicating a high likelihood of attacks within the next six months. McCullough stated that al-Qaeda and ISIS continue to incite conspiracy theories, and MI5 still has to deal with attempts at large-scale attacks. He noted that the most significant trend over the past year has been an increase in cases where extreme anti-immigration and anti-Muslim sentiments have been turned into terrorist intentions.
On the 11th, British Prime Minister Andrew Burnett claimed that Russia interfered with the UK’s Brexit referendum in 2016, a claim which Moscow denied. When asked about such interference, McCullam stated that Russian media such as RT were “quite active before and after the referendum,” and that there was also significant activity by bots and robots.
