There are now more Russian spies trying to gather intelligence in Britain than at the height of the Cold War, a former GCHQ official warned last night.

Foreign intelligence agents are trying to intercept secret communications between arms companies making deadly weapons, members of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence.

Techniques they are using include sending code to mobile phones which allows them to turn the device into an eavesdropping device, monitoring all calls, and also text messages, he said.

An ex official at GCHQ (pictured), has said Russian spies could be sitting outside key buildings in vans intercepting information from computer screens

John Bayliss, a former official at Britain’s eavesdropping agency GCHQ, said spies could also be sitting outside key buildings in vans intercepting information from computer screens.

He also warned Islamic State militants were sophisticated enough to use the mobile phone spying technology in Britain.

Speaking after his nearly 40-year career at the top agency, which included training Royals, soldiers and four-star generals, he said: ‘There are more Russian intelligence agents now than at the height of the cold war.’

While some are involved in traditional state espionage, many others are engaged in industrial spying for the commercial benefit of Russian firms, he said.

Mr Bayliss, who now runs the security consultancy firm Communications Risk Management, added: ‘A lot of them want information from defence contractors and also the MoD.’

Spies are mainly operating in London and cities and towns with a big Royal Navy presence, particularly the Clyde (pictured), home to the nuclear deterreny

He said there are approximately six Russian intelligence officers for every British intelligence officer in the world.

Earlier in the year it emerged there were as many agents working in Britain as there were during the Cold War - around 30 - but it is believed the figure has since soared towards the 100 figure.

Spies are mainly operating in London and cities and towns with a big Royal Navy presence, particularly the Clyde, home to the nuclear deterrent.

Mr Bayliss has briefed security teams at defence contractors such as Rolls Royce working on the nuclear submarines on how to stop their devices being intercepted and controlled by spies.

Detailing one of the common techniques used by the enemy, he said agents would be able to send code they can buy online to mobile phones.

This would enable them to take control of the phone.

He said: ‘They can then listen to conversations and see your texts. It is even possible for them to get a text saying this person has just received a phone call.

‘They can then dial in and join the conversation as a conference call, only the other two don’t know they are there.

‘They can also turn the phone’s microphone on and off and listen to all the conversations had near the mobile phone.’

Mr Bayliss briefed soldiers before they went out to Afghanistan on security issues. He said there was evidence of locals selling cheap sim cards to soldiers outside their bases.

He added: ‘I advised them not to take advantage of these SIMs as there was no telling what may have been done to them’

The enemy could potentially have had access to their communications.

Another source said that in Afghanistan family members back in the UK were even contacted by insurgent terrorists who wrongly told them their husband or son had been killed on the battlefield.

Mr Bayliss, who also briefed Prince Harry on security before he deployed, added: ‘One of the main aims of terrorists is to terrorise.’

‘The Russians are throwing their weight around so there’s concern about them and Islamic State are also sophisticated enough to be able to use this technology.’

Speaking about another technique, he warned of spies sitting outside buildings and being able to read computer screen images.

They do this by intercepting the electromagnetic radiation from the screen - a technique known as TEMPEST.

‘The longer the image is on the screen, the easier it is to recover in its entirety’

‘They can also intercept keystrokes due to the electronic pulse the keys emit from up to 25 metres away’.



