MI5 Director General Ken McCallum delivered a stark warning during a 2025 address, stating that the UK is facing a rapidly increasing threat from hostile states including Russia, Iran, and China, as well as from organized terror groups.
McCallum revealed that state threat investigations have risen by 35% over recent years. He accused these nations of employing covert tactics such as surveillance, cyber espionage, and political influence operations. The United Kingdom has attributed several operations to Russia’s Wagner Group and espionage by China targeting academia and dissidents abroad.
He also flagged 20+ Iran-linked plots that were disrupted, along with multiple Russian operations. Meanwhile, the terrorist threat remains elevated, with 19 plots foiled since 2020 involving groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.
McCallum emphasized the importance of continued cooperation with European and international intelligence partners to counter the blurred lines between state and terror tactics. For UK media, this is a major national security alert. For global readers, it illustrates how strategic rivalry and asymmetric threats are merging into an emerging security paradigm.