U.K. Spy Chief Warns of ‘Increasingly Aggressive’ Russian Threat

BY: Natalie Johnson

November 1, 2016 1:59 pm

British spy agency MI5 has hired hundreds of additional agents to prepare the United Kingdom amid a growing threat from Russia, the service’s head told the Guardian in an interview published Tuesday.

MI5 Director General Andrew Parker said while government officials have largely focused on the threat of jihadist terrorist attacks, Russia is working covertly to attacks, Russia is working covertly to undermine the nation’s stability.

“It is using its whole range of state organs and powers to push its foreign policy abroad in increasingly aggressive ways–involving propaganda, espionage, subversion, and cyber attacks,” Parker told the Guardian. “Russia is at work across Europe and in the U.K. today. It is MI5’s job to get in the way of that.”

Parker stressed that while Russia has maintained intelligence officers in the U.K. since the Cold War, the Kremlin has gained additional tools with the rise of cyber warfare. He said Russia targets military secrets, industrial projects, economic data, and government policy.

“Russia increasingly seems to define itself by opposition to the west and seems to act accordingly,” Parker said. “You can see that on the ground with Russia’s activities in Ukraine and Syria. But there is high-volume activity out of sight with the cyber threat. Russia has been a covert threat for decades. What’s different these days is that there are more and more methods available.”

Parker’s comments come as the relationship between Russia and the West continues to deteriorate following President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Parker also emphasized that the Islamic extremist threat would continue to endure, particularly with the rise of homegrown terrorists in the U.K. He said MI5 has prevented 12 terror plots in the past three years.

“It is using its whole range of state organs and powers to push its foreign policy abroad in increasingly aggressive ways–involving propaganda, espionage, subversion, and cyber attacks,” Parker told the Guardian. “Russia is at work across Europe and in the U.K. today. It is MI5’s job to get in the way of that.”

Parker stressed that while Russia has maintained intelligence officers in the U.K. since the Cold War, the Kremlin has gained additional tools with the rise of cyber warfare. He said Russia targets military secrets, industrial projects, economic data, and government policy.

“Russia increasingly seems to define itself by opposition to the west and seems to act accordingly,” Parker said. “You can see that on the ground with Russia’s activities in Ukraine and Syria. But there is high-volume activity out of sight with the cyber threat. Russia has been a covert threat for decades. What’s different these days is that there are more and more methods available.”

Parker’s comments come as the relationship between Russia and the West continues to deteriorate following President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Parker also emphasized that the Islamic extremist threat would continue to endure, particularly with the rise of homegrown terrorists in the U.K. He said MI5 has prevented 12 terror plots in the past three years.

Natalie Johnson Email Natalie | Full Bio | RSS

Natalie Johnson is a news writer at the Washington Free Beacon. Prior to joining the Free Beacon, she was a news reporter at the Daily Signal. Johnson’s work has been featured in outlets such as Newsweek, Fox News and Drudge Report. She graduated from James Madison University in 2015 with a B.A. in political science and journalism. She can be reached at johnson@freebeacon.com. Her twitter handle is @nataliejohnsonn.