MI6, the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence service, has unveiled a new recruitment initiative via the dark web aimed at gathering intelligence from individuals globally, including inside countries considered hostile. The portal — called Silent Courier — will enable people anywhere with knowledge of terrorism, hostile-state activity, or global instability to contact MI6 securely and anonymously.
The system is being launched to adapt to the changing nature of espionage, where surveillance, digital tracing, and authoritarian controls make traditional face‑to‑face recruitment riskier than ever. Sir Richard Moore, outgoing head of MI6, says the organisation must lean on cutting‑edge tech to stay ahead of its adversaries.
According to the UK Foreign Office, instructions for accessing Silent Courier will be made public via MI6’s official YouTube channel. Users are advised to use VPNs and devices unlinked to their identity to protect anonymity.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper emphasised that national security demands the UK be one step ahead, pointing to threats from “global instability, international terrorism, or hostile state intelligence activity.” She described the portal as part of a broader push to modernise intelligence‑gathering in an era of digital dominance.
The launch is timed as Sir Richard Moore prepares to leave his post, with Blaise Metreweli, who will become the first female head of MI6, expected to succeed him later this month. Moore is scheduled to formally announce Silent Courier at a speech in Istanbul.
Some analysts see this move as part of a trend among intelligence agencies globally to exploit the relative anonymity of the dark web and encrypted tools, pushing past traditional barriers of espionage that have grown due to technological surveillance and state‑control. Others warn of the difficulties — verifying credibility, protecting sources, and avoiding infiltration or misuse by hostile actors.
This marks a major shift in British intelligence strategy: not just reacting to threats, but actively inviting insiders to contribute intelligence from within adversarial regimes. As the global stakes rise, MI6 seems to be inviting darkness itself to be its ally.
