MI6 needs to come out of the shadows and change culture of secrecy, warns spy chief

MI6 needs to become “more open” and work with the private sector to keep pace with adversaries such as China, its chief will say.

In his first public speech since taking up his role in October 2020, Richard Moore, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, will announce a “sea-change in MI6’s culture” of secrecy that will see spies work with technology companies.

“The changing nature of the threats we face requires a greater degree of openness from a modern intelligence agency,” Mr Moore will say.

“There is a paradox in play here - to stay secret, we are going to have to become more open.”

China ‘pouring money and ambition’ into mastering new technologies

Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Mr Moore will warn that countries such as China are “pouring money and ambition” into technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and synthetic biology.

“They know that mastering these technologies will give them leverage," he will say.

“An intelligence service needs to be at the vanguard of what is technologically possible.

“This is not new. We have always been at the leading edge of innovation: from the chemistry that enabled us to produce secret writing technologies in the early days, to the wireless and secure speech technologies we developed during the Second World War.

“What is new is that we are now pursuing partnerships with the tech community to help develop world-class technologies to solve our biggest mission problems, and those of MI5 and GCHQ.”

‘Unlike Q in the Bond movies, we cannot do it all in-house’

Given the relative size of Britain’s intelligence agencies compared to the “big three” of China, Russia and Iran, Mr Moore will say the UK must “tap into” the global technology industry, as it is impossible to replicate it.

Historically MI6, along with the other intelligence agencies, have conducted their own research and development for the most sensitive of capabilities. That approach is now seen as unhelpful, given the pace of change of global technology - and Britain risks being left behind.

Experts believe there will be more technological progress in the next 10 years than in the last century, with a disruptive impact equal to the industrial revolution.

Mr Moore will say the impact such advances will have on global geopolitics has yet to be fully understood, but it is a “white-hot focus for MI6”.

In the future, Britain’s spies will use the National Security Strategic Investment Fund to reveal “mission problems” to companies in the private sector that would not normally work with national security.

Mr Moore, who has worked for SIS for 34 years, will say: “Unlike Q in the Bond movies, we cannot do it all in-house.

“I cannot stress enough what a sea-change this is in MI6’s culture, ethos and way of working, since we have traditionally relied primarily on our own capabilities to develop the world-class technologies we need to stay secret and deliver against our mission.

“This is the paradox - we must become more open, to stay secret.”