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| Britain’s Domestic Intelligence Chief Calls for Greater Authority for Spies | Britain’s Domestic Intelligence Chief Calls for Greater Authority for Spies |
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| Britain’s domestic intelligence chief has demanded greater authority for spies to help fight the threat of Islamist extremism, a sign that the attack on Wednesday on a satirical newspaper in Paris is likely to sharpen the security-versus-privacy debate in Western countries. | Britain’s domestic intelligence chief has demanded greater authority for spies to help fight the threat of Islamist extremism, a sign that the attack on Wednesday on a satirical newspaper in Paris is likely to sharpen the security-versus-privacy debate in Western countries. |
| Andrew Parker, the director general of MI5, said militants were planning attacks in Britain similar to the one that killed 12 people at the newspaper Charlie Hebdo. | |
| More than 600 Britons have traveled to Syria to join jihadists, he said, and three terrorist plots in Britain have been stopped by security services in recent months alone. | More than 600 Britons have traveled to Syria to join jihadists, he said, and three terrorist plots in Britain have been stopped by security services in recent months alone. |
| “Death would certainly have resulted otherwise,” he said. | “Death would certainly have resulted otherwise,” he said. |
| Amid a backlash against digital surveillance after disclosures by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden in 2013, Mr. Parker said there was a growing imbalance between the number of terrorist plots against Britain and the ability of spies to track their communications. | |
| Speaking at MI5 headquarters late on Thursday, he warned against an atmosphere in which privacy was “so absolute and sacrosanct that terrorists and others who mean us harm can confidently operate from behind those walls without fear of detection.” | Speaking at MI5 headquarters late on Thursday, he warned against an atmosphere in which privacy was “so absolute and sacrosanct that terrorists and others who mean us harm can confidently operate from behind those walls without fear of detection.” |
| “My sharpest concern as director general of MI5,” he said, “is the growing gap between the increasingly challenging threat and the decreasing availability of capabilities to address it.” | “My sharpest concern as director general of MI5,” he said, “is the growing gap between the increasingly challenging threat and the decreasing availability of capabilities to address it.” |
| Mr. Parker also offered perhaps the starkest assessment yet of the homegrown Islamist threat, citing more than 20 Syrian-linked terrorist plots against Western targets over the past 14 months. | |
| In recent months, intelligence services in Britain and the United States have been campaigning publicly against pressure to rein in their surveillance operations, notably pitting them against the American technology companies that dominate the Internet, like Google, Facebook and Apple. | In recent months, intelligence services in Britain and the United States have been campaigning publicly against pressure to rein in their surveillance operations, notably pitting them against the American technology companies that dominate the Internet, like Google, Facebook and Apple. |
| Robert Hannigan, the recently appointed director of GCHQ, Britain’s electronic intelligence agency, castigated Internet companies in November for providing the “command-and-control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals” and challenged them to find a better balance between privacy and security. | Robert Hannigan, the recently appointed director of GCHQ, Britain’s electronic intelligence agency, castigated Internet companies in November for providing the “command-and-control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals” and challenged them to find a better balance between privacy and security. |
| Companies are stepping up efforts to strengthen encryption, saying they are responding to demands for more privacy from their users. The Paris attacks, however, hold the potential to shift the debate. | Companies are stepping up efforts to strengthen encryption, saying they are responding to demands for more privacy from their users. The Paris attacks, however, hold the potential to shift the debate. |
| Reacting to Mr. Parker’s speech, held before an invited audience, the chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said the government would give intelligence services what they needed. | Reacting to Mr. Parker’s speech, held before an invited audience, the chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said the government would give intelligence services what they needed. |
| “My commitment is very clear,” Mr. Osborne told the BBC. “This is the national priority. We will put the resources in. Whatever the security services want, they will get.” | “My commitment is very clear,” Mr. Osborne told the BBC. “This is the national priority. We will put the resources in. Whatever the security services want, they will get.” |
| Already, he said, the government is spending more than 100 million pounds, about $151 million, to monitor Britons traveling to conflicts in Syria and Iraq. | Already, he said, the government is spending more than 100 million pounds, about $151 million, to monitor Britons traveling to conflicts in Syria and Iraq. |
| Mr. Parker described the attack on the newspaper as “a terrible reminder of the intentions of those who wish us harm.” | Mr. Parker described the attack on the newspaper as “a terrible reminder of the intentions of those who wish us harm.” |
| Although he said that the threat level in Britain had worsened, the country had not raised its terror alert level beyond its current level, the second highest. | |
| Extra security staff members have been posted at critical hubs like airports and train stations, as well as at border points with France. | Extra security staff members have been posted at critical hubs like airports and train stations, as well as at border points with France. |
| An attack in Britain was “highly likely,” he said, adding that MI5 could not guarantee it would be able to stop it. | An attack in Britain was “highly likely,” he said, adding that MI5 could not guarantee it would be able to stop it. |
| “Although we and our partners try our utmost, we know that we cannot hope to stop everything,” he said. | “Although we and our partners try our utmost, we know that we cannot hope to stop everything,” he said. |