Intelligence services must ally with technology sector, says MI6 director

In the face of threats posed by Russia, Iran, China and terrorism, the secret services must collaborate with the technology sector to be more effective, said the director of British foreign intelligence MI6 on Tuesday.

In an unusual public intervention, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Richard Moore explained how technological advances have transformed espionage.

And he stressed that “adapting to a world affected by the rise of China is MI6’s top priority.”

“Chinese intelligence agents seek to exploit the open nature of our society, in particular by using social media platforms to facilitate their operations,” he said.

In an interview with the BBC prior to his speech, Moore explained that China’s artificial intelligence capabilities allow it to “collect data from around the world.”

The country “also tries to use its influence through its economic policies to try, and sometimes succeed, to trap people in its networks,” he said. Beijing uses these “data and debt traps” to influence countries and people, he added.

Following US allegations of espionage against telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei, the British government decided in July 2020 to exclude the Chinese giant from its 5G mobile network, citing a risk to the country’s security.

The head of MI6, the only member of the body whose name is public, also described Russia’s action as a “serious threat”, citing the Russian military presence on the border with Ukraine.

“We are concerned about the accumulation of troops and the intentions of President (Vladimir) Putin,” he acknowledged. “We have to be very careful and prudent and make it clear to the Russians the price they would pay if they intervene, as they did in 2014,” he added, referring to Moscow’s invasion of Ukrainian Crimea.

Partnership with the tech community

The third country Moore mentioned was Iran, saying he expected a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue, a source of great tension.

These three countries, together with international terrorism, are the four priorities of the British intelligence services, which are trying to adapt to a changing environment in which they cannot fight technological advances alone.

“Our adversaries are investing money and ambition in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and synthetic biology because they know that mastering these technologies will give them an advantage,” said the man who assumed the leadership of MI6 in October 2020, where he was known as “C”.

“An intelligence service has to be at the forefront of what is technologically possible. What is new is that we are now seeking partnerships with the technology community to help develop world-class technologies that solve the problems of our most important missions, “he added.

But “unlike Q in the Bond movies, we can’t do everything internally anymore,” he considered, referring to the technological genius in the fictional agent 007 stories.

The MI6 director also warned that criminal, terrorist and hostile state threats are “increasing exponentially.”

“By some estimates, in the next ten years we could see more technological advances than in the last century, with an impact in terms of disruption equal to that of the industrial revolution,” he said.