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M15 boss warns against cyber attacks

Simon Quicke

MI5's boss has warned that there are "astonishing" levels of cyber attacks taking place against UK industry with criminals exploiting vulnerabilities in user networks.

In his first public speech for a couple of years director general of the security service Jonathan Evans said that criminals as well as nation-state attacks were on the rise and described the process of hacking as being on an industrial scale.

He warned in his Mansion House speech last night that what was at stake was not just government secrets but sensitive commercial information and the UK could lose out on intellectual property that was vital to future prosperity.

"What is at stake is not just our government secrets but also the safety and security of our infrastructure, the intellectual property that underpins our future prosperity and the commercially sensitive information that is the life-blood of our companies and corporations," he said.

"The threat to businesses relates not only to major industrial companies but also to their foreign subsidiaries, and to suppliers of professional services who may not be so well protected," he added.


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