spies

MI6 is launching its own dedicated portal on the dark web in the hope of attracting new spies online, notably from Russia.

Secure messaging platform Silent Courier aims to strengthen national security by making it easier for the intelligence agency to recruit, the Foreign Office said.

Potential agents in Russia and around the world will be targeted by the UK, it adds.

Outgoing MI6 Chief Sir Richard Moore On Friday appealed to potential spies globally to anonymously access the dark web by following instructions on MI6’s own YouTube video.

In his final public speech as MI6 Chief, Sir Richard launched the worldwide recruiting drive targeting potential spies in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and elsewhere.

In the same speech delivered from Istanbul on Friday morning, he expressed scathing criticism of President Putin, saying “there is no evidence” the Russian president has any interest in a negotiated peace, “short of Ukrainian capitulation”.

“He is stringing us along”.

He added that Putin cannot succeed in Ukraine and said Putin has “bitten off more than he can chew”, adding that Russia’s economy and demography are in long term decline and “Putin’s war is accelerating”.

The MI6 Chief also accused China of supporting Russia’s war effort both diplomatically and through dual use goods like “chemicals that end up in their shells and electronic components that end up in their missiles”.

China’s support, he said, along with Iran and North Korea’s is preventing Putin from making a sensible deal.

Later this month Sir Richard is due to hand over to Blaise Metreweli.

Ahead of Friday’s announcement about the new dedicated portal, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “National security is the first duty of any government and the bedrock of the prime minister’s Plan for Change.

“As the world changes, and the threats we’re facing multiply, we must ensure the UK is always one step ahead of our adversaries.

“Our world-class intelligence agencies are at the coalface of this challenge, working behind the scenes to keep British people safe.

“Now we’re bolstering their efforts with cutting-edge tech so MI6 can recruit new spies for the UK – in Russia and around the world.”

Anyone who wants to securely contact the UK with sensitive information relating to terrorism or hostile intelligence activity will be able to access the portal from Friday.

Instructions on how to use the portal will be publicly available on MI6’s verified YouTube channel.

Users are recommended to access it through trustworthy VPNs and devices not linked to themselves.

The launch follows a similar approach by the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which published videos on social media channels to target potential Russian spies in 2023.

The CIA previously suffered a disastrous loss of its agents in China after their connections to the dark web were breached by Beijing’s Ministry of State Security.

Officials said it was one of the worst security breaches of recent years.

Platform to allow people to securely pass on information anywhere in the world, or offer their own services to MI6.

The United Kingdom’s spy agency is set to launch a web portal on the dark web to recruit informants and receive secret information from agents in Russia and worldwide, Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has said.

The Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, will officially announce the launch of the secure messaging platform called “Silent Courier” on Friday.

It is aimed at harnessing the anonymity of the dark web – the murky, hidden part of the internet often used by criminal actors – and allowing anyone, anywhere in the world, to securely contact the UK spy agency.

Users of the portal can securely pass on details about illicit activities anywhere in the world, or offer their own services, according to a Foreign Office statement.

Outgoing MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore – who is due to hand over to Blaise Metreweli later this month – will officially launch the web portal in Istanbul on Friday.

“Today we’re asking those with sensitive information on global instability, international terrorism or hostile state intelligence activity to contact MI6 securely online,” Moore is set to say when he formally announces the plans.

“Our virtual door is open to you,” he will add.

Instructions on how to use the portal will be publicly available on MI6’s verified YouTube channel.

Users have been encouraged to access it through VPNs and devices not linked to themselves.

MI6 was established in 1909 but was not officially acknowledged by the UK government until the 1990s.

The spy agency operates from the iconic SIS Building on the banks of the River Thames in London and only its head – known as “C” – is a publicly named member of the service.

In advance of the portal’s launch, new Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that “national security is the first duty of any government and the bedrock of the prime minister’s Plan for Change” – referring to a national revitalisation plan outlined by the premier and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer in December.

“As the world changes, and the threats we’re facing multiply, we must ensure the UK is always one step ahead of our adversaries,” Cooper said.

“Now we’re bolstering their efforts with cutting-edge tech so MI6 can recruit new spies for the UK – in Russia and around the world,” she added.

The US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) took a similar approach in 2023, when it published videos on social media attempting to recruit potential Russian spies.

The FBI has accused the pair of working on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security to gather naval intelligence.

The United States Department of Justice has charged two Chinese citizens for spying and trying to recruit from within the country’s military ranks.

According to Tuesday’s statement, Yuance Chen, 38, and Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, are accused of working on behalf of China’s foreign intelligence arm, the Ministry of State Security (MSS).

The pair allegedly carried out a range of “clandestine intelligence taskings”, including facilitating payments in exchange for national security information, gathering intelligence on Navy bases and attempting to recruit MSS assets.

“This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

According to an affidavit from the FBI, Lai was part of an MSS network “who could travel more easily” between China and the US “to facilitate clandestine operations”.

Starting around 2021, he began developing Chen, who is a legal permanent resident, into his asset.

After ascertaining that Chen knew people in the US military, Lai urged him to travel abroad to discuss his connections in person, even offering to pay for the tickets, according to the affidavit.

The men reportedly met with MSS agents, and in 2022, they left a backpack with $10,000 in cash in a California locker as payment to other individuals for intelligence gathering.

In the years that followed, the affidavit says that Chen collected information about the Navy and sent it to Lai, while also discussing recruitment efforts directly with the MSS.

Some of that information included personal details from Navy employees. In one case, Chen travelled to San Diego, California, to meet with a Navy hire and tour the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier.

Photos included in the affidavit show a visitor’s badge as well as Chen posing with the employee and their child on top of the aircraft carrier’s deck.

The FBI says that such interactions are part of China’s campaign to extend its military’s reach.

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] government seeks blue-water naval capabilities as part of their effort to modernize their navy and establish hegemony in the South China Sea,” the affidavit reads.

“Blue-water capabilities” generally refer to long-distance maritime efforts, as opposed to operations based closer to domestic shores.

“As such, the PRC government tasks and deploys the MSS to surreptitiously target the US Navy and collect intelligence,” the affidavit continues.

Both men were charged under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, or FARA, which requires that those working on behalf of another country register with the US government.

In recent years, the US government has ramped up its use of the law in its effort to combat alleged Chinese espionage activity.

Beijing typically denies such claims and has accused the US of discriminatory tactics.

“These charges reflect the breadth of the efforts by our foreign adversaries to target the United States,” US Attorney Craig H Missakian said in the Justice Department statement.

“We will continue to undertake counterespionage investigations and prosecutions, no matter how complex and sensitive, to disrupt attempts to weaken our national security.”