Britons should be on their guard about spying and hostile state attacks from the likes of China and Russia in the same way they are about terrorism, MI5's top boss will warn today.
In a major speech at the Thames House headquarters in London, MI5's Director General, Ken McCallum will warn that ordinary members of the public are not immune to the tentacles of hostile states.
He will also emphasis that the 'less visible threats that have the potential to affect us all'.
To date, there have been more than 10,000 'disguised approaches from foreign spies to regular people in the UK, seeking to manipulate them', according to MI5.
The approaches have been made through social media sites such as LinkedIn to steal information, according to the UK's Security Service.
And Mr McCallum say he believes 'regular people' should care more about cyber attacks, spying on our world-leading research and technology, misinformation and interference.
In a major speech at the Thames House spy headquarters in London, MI5's Director General, Ken McCallum (pictured) will warn that ordinary members of the public are not immune to the tentacles of hostile states like Russia and China
Mr McCallum will today warn Britons to be on their guard about hostile state attacks from the likes of China (pictured left: President Xi Jinping) and Russia (pictured right: President Vladamir Putin), warning they should treat the threat level in the same way they do with terrorism.
He will warn that the attacks can be fatal, with the 'consequences ranging from frustration and inconvenience, through loss of livelihood, potentially up to loss of life.'
Mr McCallum, a career spy, will challenge the assumption that the impact of hostile activity is felt only by government or institutions, urging the public to recognise that they too are at risk from the constant undercurrent of activity.
'We must, over time, build the same public awareness and resilience to state threats that we have done over the years on terrorism,' he will say In an annual threat update speech.
He will also say: 'UK victims of state espionage range way wider than just government. We see the UK's brilliant universities and researchers having their discoveries stolen or copied; we see businesses hollowed out by the loss of advantage they've worked
