Ken McCallum will say there have already been “over 10,000 disguised approaches from foreign spies to regular people in the UK, seeking to manipulate them” as he delivered his annual update on the security threat facing the country.
Mr McCallum, who took over as MI5’s director general last year, said the consequences could range from “frustration and inconvenience, through loss of livelihood, potentially up to loss of life” and that the methods deployed by foreign agencies included spreading misinformation, interference, cyber-attacks and espionage.
He said that meant that people should no longer assume that they would not be targeted by hostile state activity – which most often comes from China and Russia – and that the only victims were the government, institutions or named individuals.
Members of the public also needed to be vigilant as a result and alert the authorities about any suspicious conduct they might encounter.
“UK victims of state espionage range way wider than just government,” Mr McCallum will say in a speech at MI5’s Thames House headquarters.
“We see the UK’s brilliant universities and researchers having their discoveries stolen or copied; we see businesses hollowed out by the loss of advantage they’ve worked painstakingly to build.
“Given half a chance, hostile actors will short-circuit years of patient British research or investment. This is happening at scale. And it affects us all. UK jobs, UK public services, UK futures.
“To speak directly: if you are working in a high-tech business; or engaged in cutting-edge scientific research; or exporting into certain markets, you will be of interest – more interest than you might think – to foreign spies. You don’t have to be scared; but be switched on.”
MI5 has previously warned of attempts by foreign spies to steal coronavirus vaccine secrets and about an increasing volume of hostile state activity conducted by China and Russia in particular.
The agency has also recently highlighted attempts to target people over professional networking sites such as Linkedin in an attempt to pass over sensitive information that might advance commercial secrets and intellectual property to the detriment of British businesses and jobs.
The developing threats come in addition to the more familiar dangers posed by Islamist extremism, as well as the increasing number of Far-Right terrorists and the continuing danger posed by the remaining terror groups in Northern Ireland.
