MI6 holds IT staff recruitment drive

The British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) is looking for IT skills to securely store and distribute information vital to the security of the country.

The department, also known as MI6, is responsible for protecting the UK’s interests overseas, and is advertising for a range of IT staff roles at different career levels.

Electronic protection is a major part of the SIS’s operations, according to the service’s web site.

“We ensure the security and effectiveness of an international communications network operating in nearly every country in the world. In addition, we make sure that all intelligence is stored in a way that optimises its usefulness and guarantees its impregnability,” says the site.

The most senior role advertised is the position of chief enterprise architect, a job that holds responsibility for strategically maintaining IT infrastructure across the whole of the SIS. The Service is also seeking project managers to lead initiatives with budgets of up to £5m.

Over the past 12 months, several high-profile attacks have raised international awareness of cyber warfare.

Last May the Estonian government accused Russia of shutting down access to its parliamentary sites, as well as those used by several national banks and newspapers.

Earlier this month Belgian justice minister Jo Vandeurzen publicly accused the Chinese government of sanctioning electronic spy attacks on his nation’s databases.
And in May, China-based hackers succeeded in gaining access to servers used by India’s Ministry of External Affairs.