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MI5 chief warns Britain has entered a new security era as AI, right-wing teens and Iran ALL pose lethal threats

From the Newshound archive · first published 13 October 2026.

Sir Ken McCallum has warned that MI5 is now directing more resource toward state threats than at any point in the Cold War, with Iran linked to more than 50 arrests in the UK over the past year.
Sir Ken McCallum has warned that MI5 is now directing more resource toward state threats than at any point in the Cold War, with Iran linked to more than 50 arrests in the UK over the past year.

Sir Ken McCallum delivered his annual threat assessment at Thames House on Tuesday, declaring that Britain has entered a "new era of national security" as dangerous as the post-9/11 period. MI5 now devotes more resources to countering hostile state activity from Russia, Iran and China than at any point during the Cold War, and the agency's state threats caseload has quadrupled over the last decade. McCallum announced the launch of a new AI Threat Assessment Centre and cautioned that artificial intelligence could hand terrorists the means to develop bioweapons or engineer entirely new pathogens.

MI5 investigated a radicalised 13-year-old right-wing extremist earlier this year — intelligence from that case allowed a foreign partner to head off a lethal attack on their territory.

Iran has moved from targeting dissidents toward 'harder' targets including military sites, with more than 50 people arrested in Iran-linked operations in the UK over the past year alone.

McCallum warned that AI-enabled drones are already being exploited by terrorists, and that the biggest unchecked risk is AI unlocking biological weapons capability for low-sophistication actors.

MoreLBCMI5 investigation into extreme right-wing 13-year-old foiled 'lethal attack' overseasThe TelegraphMI5 chief: Terrorists plotting AI drone attacks on BritainLBCAI could give terrorists access to bioweapons if guardrails fail – MI5 chiefThe GuardianRightwing extremists increasingly likely to consider terrorist attacks, MI5 chief saysLBC'In this new world, we should expect to be tested': MI5 chief warns of 'radical' new threats to Britain's national securityLBCBritain’s lights could go out: MI5 warns of growing threat to power grids, water supplies and financial systemsThe IndependentMI5 spy chief warns over threat of terrorists using AI for warfareGB NewsArtificial intelligence 'may lead terrorists to develop deadly biological weapons', MI5 chief warnsDaily RecordMI5 'devoting more resources to stopping threats than during Cold War'
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