UK intel agencies must join forces with tech firms: spy chief

Britain's intelligence agencies must shed their culture of secrecy and form partnerships with tech firms to fight against hostile states, criminals and extremists, spy chief Richard Moore said Tuesday.

With Britain's adversaries "pouring money and ambition into mastering artificial intelligence, quantum computing and synthetic biology", the agencies can no longer keep pace using in-house solutions, MI6 chief Moore was to say in a rare public address, extracts of which were released beforehand.

"We cannot hope to replicate the global tech industry, so we must tap into it," the foreign intelligence agency chief was to tell the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

"Unlike Q in the (James) Bond movies, we cannot do it all in-house," he said, referring to the character who furnishes the legendary spy with all his nifty gadgets.

"I cannot stress enough what a sea-change this is in MI6's culture, ethos and way of working, since we have traditionally relied primarily on our own capabilities to develop the world class technologies we need to stay secret and deliver against our mission," added Moore, who is known as "C" within government.

Cyber-threats from criminals, extremists and hostile states are growing exponentially, he warned.

"We may experience more technological progress in the next 10 years than in the last century, with a disruptive impact equal to the industrial revolution," said Moore, who took over MI6 last year.

"It is a white-hot focus for MI6."