The head of MI5 warns that threats from Russia, Iran and AI have risen sharply, with state threats now matching terrorism in scale. He describes Russia as the primary aggressor and cites increased hybrid attacks against the UK.
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01Summary
- 01Sir Ken McCallum said MI5 is devoting more resources to countering state threats than during the Cold War, with foreign threats quadrupled in a decade.
- 02Russia is conducting hybrid warfare through cyber-attacks, sabotage and misinformation, while Iran-linked activity has led to 50 arrests in the past year.
- 03MI5 has caught terrorists using AI to enhance reconnaissance and attack methods, and warned that AI could aid extremist groups in developing bioweapons.
- 04The UK's terrorism threat level was raised to severe in April 2025, driven partly by a rise in extreme right-wing terrorism.
- 05MI5 has launched an AI Threat Assessment Centre to evaluate threats from artificial intelligence.
02Why it matters
The speech confirms that the UK faces an unprecedented mix of espionage, sabotage and digital threats from state actors, which could disrupt daily life and national security. Understanding these risks helps readers appreciate the changing nature of danger both online and offline.
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