Number of British spies to rise by 40% - MI6 plans unveiled
The British foreign intelligence service MI6 is going to increase the number of employees by 40 percent.
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The BBC reports this with reference to the words of British intelligence chief Alex Younger.
Alex Younger is quoted as saying that MI6 is “recruiting almost a thousand spies to fight global terrorism.”
“By the end of this decade, due to the hiring of new employees, the intelligence service staff will increase from 2500 to almost 3500 employees and analysts,” the message says.
The size of the MI6 staff thus increases by almost 40%, as noted, similarly in 2005, after the bombings in London, the counterintelligence staff of MI5 increased sharply.
Spy chiefs are reportedly looking to recruit more women and ethnic minorities, which could be useful for reaching out to different communities or infiltrating extremist organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
According to Younger, “Current terrorism in the spirit of the Islamic State is an ever-present threat, fueled and driven by the Internet revolution, breaking down all international barriers.”
It is noted that this gives rise to task number two: MI6 must make the most skillful use of the Internet and various digital technologies in its work, combining them with traditional methods of intelligence activities.
Counterintelligence MI5 currently numbers about 4 thousand people, the famous GCHQ - the Government Communications Center, which specializes in electronic intelligence - employs 6 thousand people.
“MI6 is working increasingly coherently with MI5 and GCHQ to achieve better use of different technologies to defend against computer and communications threats,” it said.
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