MI5 chief warns of rising threats from Russia, Iran and AI

MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum warned of growing threats to the UK in an annual speech at the service’s London headquarters.

He said threats from foreign states have quadrupled over the past decade, leaving MI5’s work on state threats and terrorism at roughly equal scale.

Russia was identified as the leading state threat, with McCallum saying it uses hybrid methods while avoiding a direct conflict with Nato.

He said MI5’s work had led to almost 1,000 Russian expulsions, and that the Kremlin was now paying criminals to carry out attempted attacks.

Iran-linked activity led to 50 arrests in the past year, with targets including Jewish communities and military sites.

McCallum also warned that terrorists are using AI for reconnaissance and attack planning, while extremist groups could use it to develop bioweapons; he said that danger has not yet materialised.

MI5 has launched an AI Threat Assessment Centre to assess emerging risks, and the UK intelligence services are working with the AI Security Institute.