It can help an enemy to find weak points or launch surprise attacks. This can be especially useful to an enemy country in wartime. These will include technical information about weapons, details of where troops are located, information on defences and so on. The most capable foreign intelligence services are able to operate all over the world. A foreign intelligence service operates best in its own country and therefore finds it easier to target UK interests at home, where they can control the environment and take advantage of any perceived vulnerabilities. The threat is not confined to within the UK itself. Many countries actively seek UK information and material to advance their own military, technological, political and economic programmes. The UK is a high priority espionage target. They sometimes do this on behalf of state-owned or sponsored companies in their own countries. Intelligence services, therefore, are targeting commercial as well as government-related organisations. They now include communications technologies, IT, energy, scientific research, defence, aviation, electronics and many other fields. These targets remain of critical importance but in today’s technology-driven world, the intelligence requirements of a number of countries are wider than before. In the past, espionage activity was typically directed towards obtaining political and military intelligence. In fact, it often helps us to build good relationships with other nations. This type of work is not harmful to our national interests. Foreign representatives thereby help their governments to shape their foreign, commercial and military policies. This enables them to monitor political, economic and military developments in their host country and brief their own governments. They use open sources such as the media, conferences, diplomatic events and trade fairs, and through open contact with host government representatives. The gathering of publicly available information is a routine activity of diplomatic staff, military attachés and trade delegations. It may also involve seeking to influence decision-makers and opinion-formers to benefit the interests of a foreign power.
This is not the same as espionage.Įspionage is the process of obtaining information that is not normally publicly available, using human sources (agents) or technical means (like hacking into computer systems).
Most governments rely on a range of information being gathered to guide their decisions.
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