Intelligence services should not focus too much on past threats, but accept that a new strategic shock similar to the September 11 attacks may be brewing where they are not looking. This was stated by the head of the British intelligence service MI5, News.bg reports.
Today, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, in which fighters of „Al Qaeda“ crashed hijacked passenger jets into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said that security services must be ready to adapt to current and future challenges.
“We know that the next strategic shock will by definition not be like the last. That is perhaps the most important lesson of all“, McCallum wrote in a commentary for the “Independent“.
“Of course, we must always learn from the last attack - but we must beware of preparing brilliantly to fight yesterday's enemy, using yesterday's methods, against yesterday's target... The inconvenient truth is that the next strategic shock may already be taking shape somewhere we are not yet looking“, he pointed out.
“Al Qaeda“ remains a threat
“Al Qaeda“, although weakened, remains a threat, as does the group and other militants' drive to carry out high-casualty attacks, McCallum said.
This was recently confirmed by a foiled Islamist plot to kill hundreds in armed attacks on the Jewish community in the English city of Manchester, he added.
However, McCallum said MI5 was also facing increasing state-sponsored aggression - from sabotage carried out by criminal intermediaries to cyberattacks on power stations.
Broader preparation needed
Unlike 2001, many systems and services are now in the hands of the private sector and governments, businesses and academia will need to work together to remove vulnerabilities and respond quickly in a crisis, he noted.
“We can't wait for the next shock to figure out who controls the vulnerability, who has the authority to act, or who should have picked up the phone,“ McCallum said.
“We owe the victims of 9/11 - and those who will otherwise be victims of tomorrow's attack - more than remembrance. We owe them preparation, resilience, and the courage to adapt before the next shock hits“.