Next 9/11 shock might be being planned where we're not looking, UK's MI5 chief says

"We know that the next strategic shock ⁠will, by definition, not resemble the last one. That is perhaps the most important ​lesson of all," Mc. Callum wrote in the commentary for the Independent newspaper.

Also Read:Trump's Iran campaign echoes the post-9/11 'forever wars'"We must of ​course always learn from the last attack – but must beware of preparing brilliantly to fight yesterday’s enemy, using yesterday’s methods, against yesterday’s target... The uncomfortable truth is that the next strategic shock may ​already be taking shape somewhere we are not yet looking.

"Al Qaeda, though diminished, remains ​a threat, as does the aspiration of that group and other militants for mass casualty attacks, ‌Mc. Callum ⁠said. This was recently borne out by a foiled Islamist plot to kill hundreds in gun attacks on the Jewish community in the northern English city of Manchester, he added.

Read More:China, Iran among countries that have used AI to aid spying, Anthropic says. But Mc. Callum said MI5 was also facing rising state-backed aggression, ranging from sabotage carried out by ​criminal proxies to cyberattacks ​on power stations.

Unlike ⁠in 2001, many systems and services are in the hands of the private sector, and it will require governments, businesses and academia ​all working together to close vulnerabilities and to respond swiftly ​in a ⁠crisis, he said.

"We cannot wait for the next shock to discover who owns the vulnerability, who has the authority to act, or who was supposed to pick up the phone," ⁠he wrote. "We ​owe the victims of 9/11 – and those who ​will otherwise become the victims of tomorrow’s attack – something more than remembrance.

We owe them preparation, resilience and ​the courage to adapt before the next shock arrives. "