MI5 chief warns of threats to UK from Russia, Iran and AI

ByFrank Gardner, Security correspondent, Reporting fromThames House and Adam Goldsmith.

Key points

• The UK Intelligence Community – MI5, GCHQ, MI6 – is working closely with the UK's globally respected AI Security Institute to take them on.
• With its traditional covert footprint eviscerated by almost 1, 000 expulsions since the invasion, the Kremlin's global toolkit is subdued, he stated.
• Sir Ken remarked MI5 successes in identifying and expelling Russian spies from the UK had left the Kremlin dependent on paying proxies for attempted attacks.
• Much of this Iranian aggression has been aimed at Jewish communities, Sir Ken continued, and additionally at "harder targets, like military sites".
• Burnham has remarked the incident was "almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard".

ByFrank Gardner, Security correspondent, Reporting fromThames House and Adam Goldsmith. 13 October 2026, 13: 00 BST. Updated 2 hours ago.

MI5 is devoting more resource to countering state threats than during the Cold War, the head of the intelligence service has remarked.

Sir Ken McCallum remarked threats from foreign adversaries had quadrupled in the last decade, with Russia "aggressor number one" as well as climbed Iran-linked aggression against Jewish sites and military bases.

At an annual speech in London, MI5's chief remarked Russia was waging hybrid warfare at a time when AI was "supercharging the cyber-security contest between attackers and defenders".

He additionally cautioned of rising threats from "extreme right-wing terrorism" and noted MI5 had "caught terrorists seeking to exploit Al, " including by integrating the technology with drones.

He remarked the biggest threat from the misuse of AI was extremist groups using the technology to harness new and existing bioweapons.

Nevertheless, he observed that work countering terrorism and state threats was now "pretty much of equal scale" which he described as a "huge shift" over recent years.

Sir Ken remarked Russia had ceased short of "conventional conflict" against Nato and is instead trying to unsettle European countries while its progress in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine is "minimal and horrifically costly".

Hybrid warfare or hybrid attacks are loose terms which tend to describe non-military methods, for example cyber-attacks, sabotage or misinformation, designed to exert pressure and destabilise an adversary.

These are quite often employed using proxies, but Russia always denies involvement in such attacks despite growing evidence to the contrary.

"So we see them scrambling to pay criminals to do their bidding."

He continued: "These are not the actions of a great power with the strategic upper hand."

His comments come as a growing number of leaders throughout Europe have cautioned Russia may be preparing attacks to test their commitment to supporting Ukraine.

Asked after the speech regarding Prime Minister Andy Burnham's recent comments that Russia interfered with the Brexit referendum, Sir Ken stated it was "not new news" that there had been attempts from Moscow but distinguished between "interference attempted" and "outcome achieved".

He remarked it was a matter of public record that there were pieces in Russian media and "so-called internet trolls and bot farms" seeking to influence the Brexit debate, but additionally stressed that the result of the 2016 referendum was "not in dispute".

He continued that he was "worried" concerning the the ongoing debate on Russian interference.

"I am a little bit anxious that we don't play into our adversaries' hands by making these trolls look 10ft tall, " he remarked to journalists.

Meanwhile, Sir Ken cautioned that Iran is additionally expanding a hybrid campaign in the UK.

Meanwhile, the intelligence chief remarked there had been 50 arrests in the last year over Iran-linked activities.

Sir Ken did not mention arrests at RAF Fairford directly during his speech, but remarked to journalists afterwards the incident was "not unique".

He continued: "We have seen Iranian interest beyond RAF Fairford in the UK."

Meanwhile, the incident at the airbase in Gloucesteshire, where three suspicious vans were seen parked nearby, has seen seven individuals arrested and bailed by counter-terrorism police.

Meanwhile, the MI5 head remarked in his speech: "What I can say is that those who seek to cause mayhem on British streets – whether hired thugs here or their paymasters overseas – will meet an unflinching response."

Sir Ken continued that the National Security Act – a 2023 law designed to target residents working against UK interests for foreign powers – is in heavy employ, and has been employed to tackle threats from China as well as Iran and Russia.

On the emerging threat posed by AI, Sir Ken remarked: It can produce propaganda and radicalising material tailored to the individual.

"We've caught terrorists seeking to exploit Al to improve their reconnaissance and attack methodologies, with Al-enabled drones adding a new twist."

Sir Ken remarked the bioweapons threat posed by AI was "not yet realised" but cautioned the technology has the "potential to change the stakes".

"These risks are real. The UK Intelligence Community – MI5, GCHQ, MI6 – is working closely with the UK's globally respected AI Security Institute to take them on."

Sir Ken remarked AI poses unknown threats, telling Thames House: "Put at its simplest, human history has given us no experience of facing an actor which is smarter than we are".

He confirmed MI5 had rolled out an AI Threat Assessment Centre. It he noted would assess sources and "separate the bluster from the realities".

In April, the UK's terrorism threat level was raised to severe for the first time in five years, meaning an attack is highly probable.

While the climbed risk was additionally driven "in significant part" by extreme right-wing terrorism, sir Ken remarked Islamist groups like Al Qaeda and so-called Islamic State both continue to direct and inspire attacks.

He continued: "Over the last year the most marked trend has been an increase in cases where extremist versions of anti-immigration and anti-Muslim grievance are tipping into terrorist intent."

Sir Ken remarked extreme right-wing terrorism tended to "skew young", driven by the internet – adding that MI5 had in recent months investigated a "radicalised extreme right-wing 13-year-old here in the UK".

He remarked: "That investigation generated insight that enabled one of our international partners to prevent a lethal attack on their soil."

For now, MI5 chief warns of threats to UK from Russia, Iran and AI remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.