James Bond fans will be familiar with the codenames of M and Q. They will also be used to the arsenal of gadgets compulsory for budding super spies.

But how would they feel about taking on one of the most important MI6 acronyms of all… CIO.

The UK’s Secret Intelligence Service is recruiting a new chief information officer. The job advert says that MI6 wants someone capable of helping to defend the UK’s security and economic interests overseas.

Sounds a bit more exciting than making sure the chief executive’s BlackBerry is working, or that the helpdesk is meeting its service level agreements, doesn’t it?
And those meetings to discuss managing risk might take on a whole new level of interest if you were the spooks’ IT leader.

If you watched movies such as Enemy of the State or The Bourne Ultimatum and wondered if the scenes where the suspect’s every move was electronically watched from afar were for real ­ perhaps this is the job for you.

Mind you, perhaps your first question when you are asked in for an interview should be to ask why the email for interested parties to send CVs to MI6 is a Hotmail address…

The importance of technology to national security is well-known, and becoming increasingly high-profile.

Nato defence chiefs met last week to discuss new policies for protecting member states’ critical national infrastructure from cyber attacks.

The meeting came after Nato was unable to help Estonia defend itself against a massive electronic bombardment in May that disrupted government systems, news web sites and financial institutions.

As we become more dependent on IT, so we become more vulnerable to those who understand how to disrupt it.

But in their own way, IT directors in every organisation are used to facing this fact every day. Given the breadth of experience among the UK’s IT leaders in tackling security threats, there should be no shortage of applicants to MI6.

Shaken or stirred, Mr CIO?