Islamic State terrorists are planning mass casualty
attacks in Britain the head of MI5 has warned.
Andrew Parker, director general of the security
agency, said threats from homegrown jihadis who
want to fight for the militant movement showed no
sign of abating.
He also publicly admitted for the first time that MI5
had to carry out computer hacking attacks against
terror networks to crack their communications .
Delivering the Lord Mayor of London’s annual
defence and security lecture, he said the current
level of threat was the highest he had seen in a
career spanning 32-years . In the past 12 months
his agency has thwarted six terror plots in the UK
and another seven abroad.
A member of ISIL has been described as a 'moron'
after his 'selfie' lead to a US air strike Photo: AP
Mr Parker said four fifths of the 4,000-strong
agency’s resources were directed at stopping
terrorist attacks, with an increasing proportion of
them linked to Syria and Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (Isil).
He said: “More than 750 extremists from this
country have travelled to Syria, and the growth in
the threat shows no sign of abating.
“We are seeing plots against the UK directed by
terrorists in Syria; enabled through contacts with
terrorists in Syria; and inspired online by Isil’s
sophisticated exploitation of technology.”
Britons are being rapidly radicalised online and then
encouraged to carry out low tech but deadly
attacks.
He said: “On top of that, in a range of attacks in
Europe and elsewhere, this year we have seen
greater ambition for mass casualty attacks.”
While the rise of Isil had dominated the headlines in
the past 12 months, he said there was still as threat
from al-Qaeda terrorists who are also planning
massive attacks in the UK.
He said: “All of this means that the threat we are
facing today is on a scale and at a tempo that I
have not seen before in my career.”
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He went on: “We have thwarted six attempts at
terrorist attacks in the UK in the last year, and
several plots overseas.
“It may not yet have reached the high water mark,
and despite the successes we have had, we can
never be confident of stopping everything. The
death of 31 British nationals in the Sousse attacks
in June was an appalling reminder of the threat.”
The scale of the threat meant MI5 had to update its
“toolbox” of methods to fight terrorists, including
using computer attacks.
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He said: “This includes the ability to conduct
operations online and to mount IT attacks (known
as equipment interference), under a warrant
authorised by the Home Secretary, against terrorist
networks, so that we can access their
communications.”
Defending the agency’s ability to access
communications data, he said: “We use these tools
within a framework of strict safeguards and
rigorous oversight, but without them we would not
be able to keep the country safe.
“As I have said before, we do not, and could not, go
browsing at will through the lives of innocent
people.”