MI5: Iran targets British military sites as AI concerns grow
· BehindLines newsroom
According to Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence service, the service's operations
against terrorism and threats from foreign states are now comparable in scale. This was one of the assessments in his
annual speech, delivered in London on Tuesday. The number of state-threat cases handled by MI5 has quadrupled in ten
years, he said.
Russia leads, Iran grows more ambitious
The MI5 chief identifies Russia as the leading adversary. While stopping short of armed conflict with NATO, Moscow is
alleged to be conducting a hybrid war involving cyberattacks, sabotage and disinformation by paying criminals: nearly
1,000 expulsions of Russian agents since the invasion of Ukraine have weakened its network. Russia routinely denies
involvement in such attacks.
The major change this year, he says, comes from Iran, which is allegedly now seeking better-protected targets such as
military sites. He reports more than 50 arrests in a year in cases linked to Tehran, many of which targeted Jewish
communities. Speaking to the press, he said the late-September incident near Fairford airbase, from which US bombers
operate, was “not unique”. Prime Minister Andy Burnham attributes it “almost certainly” to the Revolutionary Guards.
Seven people were arrested and then released on bail; according to DW, no usable explosives were found in the vans,
only flammable materials, and nobody has yet been charged, the Guardian notes.
The far right and artificial intelligence
The terrorist threat, raised to “severe” in April, also involves the far right: MI5 sees more cases where
anti-immigration and anti-Muslim grievances develop into terrorist intent, often among very young people radicalised
online. Ken McCallum also warned that AI could produce personalised propaganda, strengthen hackers and help terrorists
prepare attacks, including with drones. The risk of AI-assisted biological weapons has “not yet materialised”, he
said, announcing that MI5 had launched an AI threat assessment centre.