MI5 battles 'astonishing' level of cyber-attacks

MI5 is battling "astonishing" levels of cyber-attacks on UK industry, the intelligence agency's chief has said. The attacks were a threat to the integrity of information, he added.He also said that some terrorist networks had thought of attacking Olympic Games 2012 but security was under way. 

The Games would present an attractive target at London's Mansion House. Half a million people have been checked as part of the accreditation process, which MI5 has helped with, and it is thought a number of individuals have been denied accreditation based on national security checks.

MI5 is making efforts to tackle "industrial-scale processes involving many thousands of people lying behind both state sponsored cyber espionage and organised cyber crime".

"Vulnerabilities in the internet are being exploited aggressively not just by criminals but also by states," he said. "The extent of what is going on is astonishing."

In the past Russia and China have been cited as the countries most involved in state-based attack.