סכסוכים · UK security threatsMI5’s State-Threat Caseload Quadruples as Terrorists Try AI Dronesנכתב 17 באוקטובר 2026 בשעה 20:28 UTCצפייהתמליל0:07On October 9th, we reported seven Fairford suspects were on bail.0:10Britain now blames Iran.0:12All seven remain on bail without charges.0:14Meanwhile, MI5 says terrorists have tried using AI-enabled drones alongside a0:19sharply larger foreign state workload.0:21The targets range from places of worship to factories and military sites.0:25How far has terrorist use of AI gone, and what is MI5 changing to meet it?0:29MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum delivered his annual assessment at Thames0:34House on October 13th.0:35He described a service confronting Russian and Iranian operations while still0:39investigating terrorism.0:41China also remains among its principal state concerns.0:44McCallum said MI5's state threat caseload has grown fourfold over the past decade.0:49That measures the investigations occupying the service.0:52State threat work now runs at roughly the same scale as counterterrorism, putting0:56two demanding operational missions alongside each other.0:59He said MI5 now commits more resources to countering state threats than during the1:03Cold War.1:04His comparison concerns the service's allocation of resources.1:07He expressly avoided ranking today's overall national danger above every period1:11since the Second World War.1:12McCallum called Russia the leading aggressor.1:15He described sabotage, cyber operations, and attempted violence alongside campaigns1:20exploiting political divisions.1:21He said Russian services are escalating these tactics while trying to stay below the1:25threshold that would trigger NATO's collective defense.1:27He cited a cyber attack on Polish energy infrastructure in Germany.1:31An attempt to destroy a cargo plane with an explosive-laden drone went wrong.1:36In the United States, an assassination plot was thwarted.1:39These examples show how far the campaign reaches.1:42Almost 1,000 expulsions internationally since Russia invaded Ukraine have severely1:46reduced its traditional covert network, McCollum said.1:49He described Moscow turning to paid criminals and inexperienced volunteers,1:53including the GRU Volunteer Corps linked to Russian military intelligence, that1:57recruitment can bring foreign state operations into ordinary workplaces and2:01communities.2:02He also described attempted election interference and online efforts to deepen2:06divisions.2:07He distinguished those attempts from actually achieving the electoral result Moscow2:10wanted.2:11Joshua Kamage faces charges over alleged preparations to sabotage a drone factory in2:15Swindon.2:16Prosecutors allege he assisted a foreign intelligence service and had contact with2:20someone linked to the GRU Volunteer Corps.2:22He denies the alleged Russian-linked plan.2:24He was charged in September under the National Security Act.2:27That law came into force in 2023 and had been used for dozens of arrests in its2:32first three years.2:33His case is heading toward a trial next April.2:35McCallum said, Iranian ambitions have expanded toward harder targets, including2:39military sites such as Fairford.2:41Jewish communities, Iranian dissidents, and Iranian media workers also face threats.2:46The Manchester proceedings concern alleged targeting of a synagogue and the city's2:49Jewish museum.2:50The count has been put at 50 and more than 50.2:53McCallum said more than 50 UK arrests in Iran-linked operations over 12 months.2:58Each arrest represents a step in an investigation.3:00The cases still have to be tested.3:02Salima Madian and Rahman Sullahi, both Iranian nationals, were arrested on September3:0720 and charged on October 2nd.3:09They face accusations of preparing terrorist acts against Manchester's Jewish3:13community.3:14Both have been remanded in custody while the proceedings continue.3:17Prosecutors allege the planning involved a homemade explosive device and3:21reconnaissance of Heaton Park Synagogue and Manchester Jewish Museum.3:24They also allege contact with an overseas third party assessed as likely to be in3:28Iran.3:28Those allegations await trial.3:30Police found petrol or accelerant in vans linked to the initial Fairford arrests.3:34They found no explosives.3:35The seven men arrested were all in their 20s.3:38Their bail status remained unchanged through October 17th as the investigation3:42continued.3:43The seventh suspect, a 22-year-old British national, was arrested in Westminster on3:47October 6 on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.3:50Police announced his release on strict bail conditions on October 8th.3:54Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament on October 12th that the suspected3:58Fairford plot was highly likely coordinated in Iran.4:01He said it was almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard.4:04That remains the government's intelligence assessment.4:07The Home Secretary also referred to a known individual based in Iran.4:11McCallum said Fairford was one of several examples in Britain and elsewhere.4:15He withheld operational details because the investigation was live.4:19Iran rejected involvement.4:20Ambassador Said Ali Muzavi demanded evidence supporting Britain's accusation.4:25The foreign ministry summoned the British ambassador and warned that bilateral4:29relations could be reconsidered.4:31It also said Iran was willing to cooperate with the investigation.4:35Terran accused Britain of diverting attention from its own role in operations4:38against Iran.4:40The criminal investigation continues while the two governments maintain opposing4:43positions on responsibility.4:45MI5 says it has caught terrorists trying to use AI to improve surveillance and4:49attack methods, including through AI-enabled drones.4:51McCallum described attempts to exploit the technology.4:54He also said AI is already intensifying the contest between cyber attackers and4:58defenders.5:01AI can produce propaganda and radicalizing material tailored to an individual, he5:05warned.5:06Those capabilities can change how extremists persuade people, scout potential5:10targets, and prepare violence.5:12His greatest concern about deliberate misuse reaches further.5:15McCallum warned that AI could help people with limited expertise develop or improve5:19biological weapons if safeguards fail.5:22He explicitly said that scenario hasn't happened.5:24MI5 is preparing for a possible capability that could make future attacks easier.5:29McCallum also raised a different future concern, whether advanced AI systems will5:33reliably follow human intentions.5:35Researchers call that the alignment problem.5:38He said the prospect of facing a system capable of outthinking humans deserves5:42serious attention, including inside MI5.5:44The Joint Terrorism Analysis Center raised the UK threat level to severe on April5:4930th.5:49The change was announced on May 1 and it remained severe when McCallum spoke.5:53Severe means an attack is highly likely.5:55The previous level, substantial, had been in place since February 2022.6:00McCallum said extreme right-wing terrorism contributed significantly to the6:04increase.6:05He described more cases where anti-immigration and anti-Muslim grievances tipped6:09into terrorist intent, including threats toward mosques and asylum venues.6:13MI5 investigated a radicalized extreme right thirteen-year-old in Britain a few6:17months before the speech.6:18McCallum said information from that investigation helped an international partner6:22prevent a lethal attack.6:23He didn't identify the child or the country involved.6:26He described these cases as increasingly young and heavily shaped online.6:30Al-Qaeda and Islamic State also continued to direct and inspire attacks.6:34The address included completed prosecutions showing threats against both Jewish and6:39Muslim communities.6:40Three Islamist extremists were convicted in February of planning an automatic6:43weapons mass shooting against Manchester's Jewish community.6:46Separately, a 16-year-old from Inverclyde received a ten-year sentence for6:50attempting an attack on his local Islamic center.6:53The February convictions concern an earlier case separate from Ahmadian and Salehi's6:57pending proceedings.6:58MI5's response now includes a new structure intended to keep its understanding of7:02technology abreast of the threats.7:04MI5 launched its AI Threat Assessment Center during 2026.7:09Housed inside the service, it brings together expertise from the AI Security7:13Institute, National Crime Agency, and National Cybersecurity Center.7:17Its assessments aim to distinguish exaggerated claims from real capabilities.7:21MI5, MI6, GCHQ, and the AI Security Institute are also working together on AI7:27security risks.7:28Alongside that work, MI5 has made protection and national resilience called PROTECT,7:33its third core mission beside counterterrorism and countering state threats.7:36Interconnected financial systems, energy grids, supply chains, and manufacturing7:40bases can be disrupted or coerced.7:42McCallum called for government, industry, universities, and the public to help7:46strengthen them.7:47Protective agencies provide advice on sabotage, drones, and cyber risks.7:51That work includes the National Protective Security Authority and National7:55Cybersecurity Center.7:56McCallum also called for stronger community resilience against attempts to divide8:00people, sometimes helped by polarizing algorithms.8:03The technological part includes assessing human misuse of AI and future risks from8:08AI systems themselves.8:09MI5 has already encountered attempted AI misuse and launched a center to assess8:13changing capabilities.8:15Its biological weapons concern remains prospective.8:18In the active criminal cases, the next legal steps will test specific allegations8:22about people and places.8:23Ahmadian and Salehi are due at the Old Bailey on October 23.8:27Camage has a pre-trial hearing in January.8:30His three-week trial over the alleged Swindon sabotage plan is scheduled to begin at8:34Winchester Crown Court on April 19, 2027.קריאת הכתבהציר הזמן של הסיפורHeyDexהסרטון הקצר ↗מי דיווח על מהנקודות שדיווח עליהן יותר מכלי תקשורת אחד✓How state-related threats changed over the past decadeאושר באופן עצמאי · 3 כלי תקשורת✓MI5 resources devoted to countering state threatsאושר באופן עצמאי · 3 כלי תקשורת✓Arrests linked to Iranian operationsאושר באופן עצמאי · שני כלי תקשורת✓The UK terrorism threat level returning to severeאושר באופן עצמאי · שני כלי תקשורת✓Terrorists’ attempts to use AIאושר באופן עצמאי · שני כלי תקשורת✓AI’s potential role in biological weaponsאושר באופן עצמאי · שני כלי תקשורתWhat a severe terrorism threat level meansשני כלי תקשורת✓Extreme right-wing terrorism’s role in increased riskאושר באופן עצמאי · שני כלי תקשורתAI’s effect on the cybersecurity contestשני כלי תקשורתAI-enabled drones and terrorist threatsשני כלי תקשורתAI-generated propaganda and radicalising materialשני כלי תקשורתIntelligence work with the UK AI Security Instituteשני כלי תקשורתנקודות שדיווח עליהן רק כלי תקשורת אחד12דווח רק על ידי BBC NewsInvestigation that helped prevent an attack abroad13 באוק׳, 12:52 UTCThe UK entering a new era of security threats13 באוק׳, 14:14 UTCMI5’s state-threat and counterterrorism workload13 באוק׳, 14:14 UTCRecent trend in extremist grievance turning to terrorism13 באוק׳, 12:52 UTCMI5 investigation of a radicalised 13-year-old13 באוק׳, 12:52 UTCRussia’s position among threats to the UK13 באוק׳, 12:52 UTCIran’s expanding hybrid campaign in the UK13 באוק׳, 12:52 UTCRussia’s hybrid activity and NATO response threshold13 באוק׳, 12:52 UTCדווח רק על ידי Sky NewsMcCallum’s warning about AI and security threats13 באוק׳, 13:28 UTCדווח רק על ידי ITV NewsLaunch of the AI Threat Assessment Centre13 באוק׳, 18:47 UTCPROTECT becoming an MI5 core mission13 באוק׳, 18:47 UTCCharges over an alleged plot targeting Manchester’s Jewish community13 באוק׳, 18:47 UTCכל שורה היא הטענה כפי שתיעדנו אותה מהדיווח של אותו כלי תקשורת. הושווה נכון ל-17 באוקטובר 2026 בשעה 19:18 UTC.סיקור קשוררקע·9 באוק׳, 14:10 UTCFairford’s bombers are home. All seven suspects are bailed. The alleged plot remains unproved.
