MI6 comes in from the cold and on to the internet

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MI6 comes in from the cold and on to the internet
By Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent
Published: 13 October 2005


A tap on the shoulder at university, a quiet word at a gentlemen's club, or a discreet approach by an ex-public school chum used to be enough to fill the ranks of MI6, the overseas intelligence service.

But the need to boost the number of MI6 officers, and employ staff from more diverse backgrounds, has prompted the spy agency to come in from the (technological) cold and openly recruit for the first time.

The agency - which prefers to call itself SIS - the Secret Intelligence Service - todaylaunches its first external website.

While the glossy site - www.mi6.gov.uk - has details of the agency's history, role and accountability, its principal job is to encourage more people to join up. MI6 employs the same number of staff as its sister agency, MI5, with about 2,000 officers. Both have received a large injection of cash from Gordon Brown to increase their counter- terrorism capabilities.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article319163.ece