MI5

Spycatcher scandal: newly released documents from the Thatcher era reveal the changing nature of government secrecy

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Official, Trust, Cabinet Office, Government, Number 10, List, Cabinet, Frustration, National archives, Antipodes, MI5, Water, Autobiography, Letter, Time, Child

The capital city, Hobart, had a bit of a “living at the edge of the world” feeling in those days.

Key Points: 
  • The capital city, Hobart, had a bit of a “living at the edge of the world” feeling in those days.
  • It seemed about as far away from anywhere as you could get.
  • A British spy had “secretly” been living only a few miles away in the sleepy town of Cygnet.
  • The prime minister followed the exchanges closely, as revealed by her handwritten comments across documents.
  • It begins, of course, with the elusive Wright – in my mind’s eye in the 1980s, I had expected him to be a dapper figure in a pinstriped suit.
  • In court, Armstrong would face none other than the up-and-coming Australian barrister Malcolm Turnbull, appearing for Wright’s publishers.
  • What the papers released by the National Archives provide is something rather more than just a good story, however.

That was then …

  • Even the names of the leaders of MI5 were a closely guarded secret, never mind the workings of their organisation.
  • It was simply not the done thing to discuss issues of national security in public.
  • Advice was offered and arguments made behind closed doors and away from the public gaze.
  • In the 1980s, it was still possible for government to believe it might be able to control the spread of information.

This is now …

  • Modern expectations of transparency mean that governments are now governing in public, whether they like it or not.
  • Where once the heads of MI5 had their identities protected, we now find them striding the public stage.
  • Stella Rimington, the director general of MI5 in the mid 1990s, published her own autobiography in 2001.
  • Their attempt to quash what turned out to be a rather innocuous book turned it into an international cause celebre.


The Spycatcher saga is a reminder that the nature of British government has changed. It shines a light on the extent to which something seen as an extraordinary public scandal in the 1980s would be seen as far less remarkable today. Modern governments are far more used to the norms of governing in public – for good or ill – in our more transparent age.
Dennis C Grube received funding from the Australian Research Council in 2013 (grant number DE130101131) for a previous project on the public face of government.

Mastercard Names Former Head of UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) as Senior Advisor

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Professional Services, Security, Technology, Finance, Networks, Banking, Commander (order), Intelligence, Government, Fleming, Risk, Indian Economic and Social History Review, MI5, GCHQ, University, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, Cyberattack, Terror, Companion, National Cyber Security Centre (Ireland), University of Bristol, Public policy, Social, Security Service, Cryptocurrency, Arms industry, Engineering, Mastercard

He will contribute to the company’s strategy in cyber, intelligence and security, while also adding to public policy initiatives.

Key Points: 
  • He will contribute to the company’s strategy in cyber, intelligence and security, while also adding to public policy initiatives.
  • With more innovation and a more digital world, there’s a need for the highest standards of security.
  • The private and public sectors need to continue to invest in technology and solutions to protect against risk and deliver trust.
  • Jeremy will be a valuable partner as we continue to secure the financial system,” said Tim Murphy, chief administrative officer, Mastercard.

Quantexa Appoints Industry Luminaries to its Advisory Board to Accelerate Growth Plans

Retrieved on: 
Friday, September 22, 2023
National Cyber Security Centre (United Kingdom), Advisory board, MI5, Health, BlackRock, Intelligence, NHSX, Government, GCHQ, Organization, COVID-19, Growth, AI, NHS, GIC, Management, Renewable energy

LONDON, Sept. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quantexa, the global leader in Decision Intelligence (DI) solutions for the private and public sectors, announced today that it has appointed three industry luminaries to its Advisory Board.

Key Points: 
  • LONDON, Sept. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quantexa, the global leader in Decision Intelligence (DI) solutions for the private and public sectors, announced today that it has appointed three industry luminaries to its Advisory Board.
  • These distinguished leaders bring a wealth of expertise in finance, healthcare, and national security to Quantexa.
  • Ralph Schlosstein, former CEO of Evercore and former President of BlackRock, brings decades of experience in investment banking to Quantexa’s Advisory Board.
  • "We are pleased to welcome Ralph Schlosstein, Matthew Gould, and Sir Jeremy Fleming to our Advisory Board," said Vishal Marria, CEO of Quantexa.

The personal details of Northern Ireland's main police force have been leaked – three reasons why that's incredibly dangerous

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 10, 2023
FOI, Good, Stuttering, Orange, MI5, Violence, Friends, PSNI, Intelligence, History, IRA, Protestantism, The Troubles, Royal Ulster Constabulary, Name, Orange Order, Nature, Police, Crucial Three, Brexit, Catholic Church, Imagination, Death, Family, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Safety, Management, Private investigator, Nursing, Drug

But depending on the nature of the data leaked and the organisation, some breaches can be more serious and have greater consequences than others.

Key Points: 
  • But depending on the nature of the data leaked and the organisation, some breaches can be more serious and have greater consequences than others.
  • This is certainly true of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), which has accidentally published information about all its police officers and civilian personnel in response to a freedom of information (FoI) request.
  • It has been reported that the spreadsheet contained approximately 345,000 pieces of data relating to every police officer.

1. Risking violence

    • The most immediate problem is that the personal information of serving police officers is now potentially in the public domain.
    • This raises the question of who might have accessed this information and what they might do with it.
    • Today’s levels of violence in the north of Ireland are incomparable to the past but the threat of violence against serving police officers remains.
    • To them, PSNI officers represent “legitimate targets” because they uphold the constitutional status quo of post-Good Friday agreement Northern Ireland.

2. Stoking community tensions

    • Anyone from this background within the PSNI is unlikely to tell anyone beyond their closest family and friends what their job is.
    • This is partly because of the security threat but also because of the problematic relationship their community had with the PSNI’s predecessor force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

3. Reviving unresolved grievances

    • The force passed the personal details of nationalists to state agents within loyalist groups, who are accused of then murdering them.
    • This remains at the core of grievances over state collusion during the Troubles.

How the Soviets stole nuclear secrets and targeted Oppenheimer, the 'father of the atomic bomb'

Retrieved on: 
Monday, July 24, 2023
Fuchs, Tissue, Nazism, Biography, University, MI5, Manhattan Project, Army, Nazi Germany, Communist party, Soviet people, Anglo-French Wars, Oppenheimer, Berkeley, Manhattan, Oppy, Kremlin, Fascism, Communism, History, Archive, Science, Student, Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist) (United States), Man, World War II, Time, Epic, Conventional weapon, Nobel, Artificial intelligence, McCarthy, Film industry, Uranium mining, Nightclub, Lithium, Russians, United States Army

The issues that Nolan depicts are not relics of a distant past.

Key Points: 
  • The issues that Nolan depicts are not relics of a distant past.
  • The new world that Oppenheimer helped to create, and the nuclear nightmare he feared, still exists today.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening to use nuclear weapons in his war in Ukraine.
  • Declassified records reveal that Soviet spying on the U.S. atomic bomb effort advanced Moscow’s bomb program, but Oppenheimer was no spy.

Oppenheimer’s perspective

    • Oppenheimer joined the Manhattan Project, a nationwide effort to build an atomic bomb before the Nazis developed one, in 1942.
    • In 1954, at the height of the McCarthy era, Oppenheimer was accused of being a communist and even a Soviet spy.
    • Oppenheimer saw communism as the best defense against the rise of fascism in Europe, which, being of Jewish heritage, was personal for him.

Russian overtures

    • But being targeted and cultivated for recruitment is not the same as being a recruited spy.
    • Oppenheimer rejected the approach, but for reasons that remain unclear, he did not inform authorities for several months.
    • Archives made available after the Soviet Union’s collapse now establish beyond doubt that Oppenheimer was not a Soviet agent.

All the Kremlin’s men

    • “Oppenheimer” focuses on Klaus Fuchs, a brilliant theoretical physicist who fled from Nazi Germany to Britain and became a British naturalized subject.
    • General Leslie Groves, the military commander of the Manhattan Project, later blamed the British for failing to identify Fuchs as a Soviet spy.
    • Other Soviet spies, like the British scientist Alan Nunn May, worked in other parts of the Manhattan Project.
    • These men had multiple motives for betraying U.S. atomic secrets.
    • By the end of World War II, Stalin’s spies had delivered the secrets of the atomic bomb to the Kremlin.

New targets

    • Today, the world stands at the edge of technological revolutions that will transform societies in the 21st century, much as nuclear weapons did in the 20th century: artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biological engineering.
    • Watching “Oppenheimer” makes me wonder whether hostile foreign governments may already have stolen keys to unlocking these new technologies, in the same way the Soviets did with the atom bomb.

HolistiCyber Strengthens Its Advisory Board with Appointment of Former MI5 Director General, Lord Jonathan Evans

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
SAGE, MI5, Policy, Advisory board, Thought, Security Service, TEL, RET, Ciso, Arms industry

NEW YORK, LONDON and TEL AVIV, Israel, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading cybersecurity services and technology company HolistiCyber announces the appointment of Lord Jonathan Evans, former Director General of the British Security Service MI5, to its Advisory Board. Lord Evans brings a wealth of expertise in cybersecurity and international intelligence. His presence will further bolster HolistiCyber's position as a pioneering force in combatting nation-state grade cyber attacks.

Key Points: 
  • NEW YORK, LONDON and TEL AVIV, Israel, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading cybersecurity services and technology company HolistiCyber announces the appointment of Lord Jonathan Evans, former Director General of the British Security Service MI5, to its Advisory Board.
  • Lord Evans has forged a distinguished career marked by his significant contributions to national security and countering global cyber threats.
  • "As cyber-threats become more sophisticated and better resourced, we urgently require a new approach founded on unique cyber expertise and pioneering technology," commented Lord Jonathan Evans.
  • "Our team at HolistiCyber is delighted to have Jonathan Evans join our Advisory Board," said Brigadier General (Ret.)

HolistiCyber Strengthens Its Advisory Board with Appointment of Former MI5 Director General, Lord Jonathan Evans

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
SAGE, MI5, Policy, Advisory board, Thought, Security Service, TEL, RET, Ciso, Arms industry

NEW YORK, LONDON and TEL AVIV, Israel, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading cybersecurity services and technology company HolistiCyber announces the appointment of Lord Jonathan Evans, former Director General of the British Security Service MI5, to its Advisory Board. Lord Evans brings a wealth of expertise in cybersecurity and international intelligence. His presence will further bolster HolistiCyber's position as a pioneering force in combatting nation-state grade cyber attacks.

Key Points: 
  • NEW YORK, LONDON and TEL AVIV, Israel, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading cybersecurity services and technology company HolistiCyber announces the appointment of Lord Jonathan Evans, former Director General of the British Security Service MI5, to its Advisory Board.
  • Lord Evans has forged a distinguished career marked by his significant contributions to national security and countering global cyber threats.
  • "As cyber-threats become more sophisticated and better resourced, we urgently require a new approach founded on unique cyber expertise and pioneering technology," commented Lord Jonathan Evans.
  • "Our team at HolistiCyber is delighted to have Jonathan Evans join our Advisory Board," said Brigadier General (Ret.)

Threat Intelligence Start-Up Adds Former Advintel, Darktrace, Mandiant, Microsoft, and UBS execs to C-Suite and Board

Retrieved on: 
Monday, June 26, 2023
Cloud, MI5, Intelligence, General partnership, Microsoft, Research, Government, Security, GCHQ, Google Cloud, CFO, UBS, Growth, AI, Darktrace, Management

RESTON, Va., June 25, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Silent Push, an early detection-focused enterprise threat intelligence company, has taken on five veteran industry executives to accelerate sales and growth, following a $10 million investment led by Ten Eleven Ventures.

Key Points: 
  • RESTON, Va., June 25, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Silent Push, an early detection-focused enterprise threat intelligence company, has taken on five veteran industry executives to accelerate sales and growth, following a $10 million investment led by Ten Eleven Ventures.
  • Ken Bagnall, CEO of Silent Push, said, "It's exciting times at Silent Push.
  • Populating our board and executive team with globally renowned cybersecurity executives, adds a wealth of industry knowledge and priceless commercial insight.
  • The collective expertise, insight and industry experience we are adding to the company will be a huge boost.

Silent Push Launches with $10M in Total Funding to Bring Detection Focused Threat Intelligence to the Market

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
MI5, TTP, API, Trellix, Intelligence, General partnership, Microsoft, URL, Control theory, Government, GCHQ, Organization, Radar, Risk management, Online shopping, Darktrace, SIEM

RESTON, Va., June 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Silent Push , a detection-focused threat intelligence company, announced today the company's launch with a total of $10M in seed funding led by global cybersecurity specialist investor Ten Eleven Ventures .

Key Points: 
  • RESTON, Va., June 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Silent Push , a detection-focused threat intelligence company, announced today the company's launch with a total of $10M in seed funding led by global cybersecurity specialist investor Ten Eleven Ventures .
  • As cyber threats continue to grow, organizations have traditionally focused on detecting threats by using intelligence feeds with indicators of compromise (IOCs).
  • This information provides insights into their capabilities and targets - Silent Push acts like a threat radar, allowing organizations to see what attackers are doing.
  • Silent Push can be used stand-alone or integrated via an API into commonly used security tools, such as a SIEM.

Kenya's new spy chief will lead the national intelligence service – what the job is all about

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, June 10, 2023
Intelligence, National, Arrest, MI5, Violence, National Police Service (Bulgaria), Leadership, Falls, Terrorism, Government, Parliament, National Intelligence Service, United States Intelligence Community, Directorate, Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol, Al-Shabab, Crime, Pakistani Intelligence Community, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Management, Drug, Telephone, Medical device, Arms industry, Mail, Private investigator, Risk management, Customer service, Information technology

But what is national intelligence and what work does it do, particularly in Kenya?

Key Points: 
  • But what is national intelligence and what work does it do, particularly in Kenya?
  • Legislators will either approve or reject his nomination to the National Intelligence Service as director-general.
  • In my view as a political scientist who has studied Kenya’s counter-terrorism policies and strategies, Haji could improve civilian oversight and accountability in the intelligence service.

What is intelligence?

    • Intelligence services are state agencies that produce reports to help maintain national security.
    • By providing reliable information about potential threats to national security, intelligence agencies contribute to peace and stability.
    • Kenya’s National Intelligence Service has three primary divisions responsible for these different kinds of information.

What are the functions of intelligence?

    • The National Intelligence Service functions to detect actual and potential national security threats.
    • The intelligence service provides confidential security reports on people who apply for state positions that require vetting.
    • This means it is not legally permitted to carry out police functions, such as search, arrest and prosecution.
    • In such cases, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, which falls under the National Police Service, investigates and sets the appropriate charge.

How is intelligence gathered?


    This is done through a process known as the intelligence cycle. It includes:
    • Kenya’s National Intelligence Service gathers information by working with individuals and organisations.
    • It also cooperates with foreign governments and intelligence agencies, such as the MI5 in the UK.

Going forward


    During his vetting, Haji listed several proposals to make the service more accountable and efficient. They included:
    In my view, such efforts could succeed if the country’s leadership commits to them. The state needs to give the service the financial, technological and human resources it requires to be more autonomous.