The United Kingdom has a new way for people to share secrets with the country’s foreign intelligence agency.
It’s called Silent Courier, and it’s being advertised online.
The service can be found on the dark web, and allows potential spies to share classified information with the U.K.’s Secret Intelligence Service — better known as MI6 — securely. The nation’s Foreign Office, which oversees MI6, says the portal is being launched as the U.K. tries to recruit “potential new agents in Russia and around the world.”
That makes sense to former MI6 intelligence officer Matthew Dunn. He told NPR that Silent Courier could be used by foreign officials who otherwise couldn’t meet with an MI6 handler, or sneak into a British embassy.
“MI6 has always had the facility for what we call walk-ins. Traditionally, that is embassy driven,” he said. “Sometimes, we have had gold dust intelligence as a result of defectors and the like.”
Silent Courier is a less risky option, Dunn believes.
“The potential for somebody to think ‘thank goodness for that, I now have a mechanism to contact the organisation, [when] for various reasons I couldn’t physically face to face present my credentials,’ this enables that possibility,” he added.
Dunn also thinks it could be useful for getting information related to Russia’s war in Ukraine from those involved in the conflict, especially if they’re not being specifically targeted by MI6.
“This is a complementary strategy that’s taking place and one that is clearly reflective of the nature of the world as [it] is right now,” Dunn said.
MI6 is home to the fictional character James Bond, but prospective double agents don’t need to channel the skills of 007 to use Silent Courier.
A promotional video on YouTube explains how to access the service. The introduction is delivered by Sir Richard Moore, who served as MI6’s chief under the codename “C.” Moore recently retired, paving the way for Blaise Metreweli, the first woman to lead the agency.
A security risk for the United States?
The ease with which people could contact MI6, even from inside the United States, has raised concerns among intelligence veterans.
“I’m hopeful that there’s been complete coordination between the U.K. and the U.S.,” said Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director of the FBI for counter-intelligence, the part of the bureau responsible for catching spies operating inside the U.S.
“It’s the first time that I’ve seen the Brits do this as broadly as they appear to be doing it here, certainly using social media platforms and casting a wide net in their efforts to collect [intelligence],” Figliuzzi told NPR.
Both countries are members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, meaning that information gathered through Silent Courier could, in theory, be shared with Washington. Approached by NPR for comment, Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment on that specifically, but added “the US is our closest ally, and we will continue to cooperate closely on defence, intelligence and security matters.”
The fact that MI6’s instructional videos are accessible inside the U.S. raised another issue, Figliuzzi said.
“This question of coordination becomes even more interesting if indeed someone inside the United States has decided ‘I think I’d rather deal with the Brits than with the Americans,’ for whatever reason, political or otherwise.”
Figliuzzi speculated that shifts in Washington could prompt that choice.
“Have the Brits said, ‘look, it’s time for us to pick up any slack there,'” he said. “The question of whether the Brits would tell us that a person inside our borders has chosen to deal with them, I hope that that’s the case. But in the dark world of cloak and dagger work, we may not know that ever, let alone in the short term.”
With Silent Courier, MI6 might not need to send James Bond to handle it.
The radio version of this story was edited by Ashley Westerman, and the digital version was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.
Transcript:
(SOUNDBITE OF DAVID ARNOLD AND NICHOLAS DODD’S “THE NAME’S BOND… JAMES BOND”)
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Invisible ink, shadowy meetings, dead drops. They’re all methods informants have used to share classified information. Now the United Kingdom has a new way, as NPR’s Adam Bearne reports.
ADAM BEARNE, BYLINE: I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook reels the other day when an ad caught my eye.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: For over a hundred years, the bedrock of MI6’s work has been face-to-face.
BEARNE: MI6 is the U.K.’s Secret Intelligence Service. It’s the British equivalent of the CIA, and yes, the employer of the fictional character James Bond. The agency’s now offering a new way of passing on secrets that doesn’t involve the risk of meeting in person.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: So if you have access to sensitive information relating to global instability or hostile intelligence activity, you can now contact MI6 and share this securely using Silent Courier.
BEARNE: Silent Courier lets anyone use the dark web to contact MI6. If that sounds complicated, well, they have instructions on YouTube.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RICHARD MOORE: Before you go and watch our video, use a reliable VPN.
BEARNE: That’s the voice of the man code-named C. His real name? Sir Richard Moore. He announced Silent Courier just before recently leaving his post as the head of MI6.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MOORE: If you have truths to share and the courage to share them, I invite you to speak to us.
BEARNE: The YouTube channel, the Facebook ads, it’s all very different to the world Matthew Dunn remembers.
MATTHEW DUNN: I’m a former MI6 intelligence officer. I was a spy, for want of better word, for many years.
BEARNE: He’s now an author writing – what else? – spy novels.
DUNN: People like me, the field officers, were working against very specific objectives, targets. So the notion of a mechanism such as Silent Courier saying, look, anybody who’s got anything potentially of interest, get in touch, to be frank, that wasn’t my experience.
BEARNE: But Dunn gets why MI6 is doing it. He says it could be useful for getting tipoffs about potential terror attacks. It could also be used by disgruntled foreign officials who can’t sneak into a British embassy.
DUNN: MI6 has always had the facility for what we call walk-ins. Silent Courier can also achieve that.
BEARNE: But here’s the thing. The U.S. and the U.K. are perhaps the closest of allies. So why was I, a British-born U.S. citizen, seeing this ad?
FRANK FIGLIUZZI: I’m hopeful that there’s been complete coordination between the U.K. and the U.S.
BEARNE: Frank Figliuzzi is a former assistant director of the FBI for counterintelligence.
FIGLIUZZI: So that if someone wants to communicate intelligence to our British friends, they’re free to do it. And that the Brits would therefore, in turn, share that with us.
BEARNE: I asked the U.K. government about that. The foreign office, which oversees MI6, said in a statement that they wouldn’t comment specifically but added that the U.K. will continue close cooperation with the U.S. on intelligence matters. U.S. intelligence agencies didn’t respond when I asked them if they’re worried about Silent Courier. Frank Figliuzzi is.
FIGLIUZZI: This question of coordination becomes even more interesting if indeed someone inside the United States has decided, you know, I think I’d rather deal with the Brits than with the Americans for whatever reason, political or otherwise.
BEARNE: And with Silent Courier, MI6 wouldn’t need to send James Bond to handle it.
Adam Bearne, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF DAVID ARNOLD AND NICHOLAS DODD’S “THE NAME’S BOND… JAMES BOND”)
