AT the secluded country house where the Britain's top computer scientists cracked the "unbreakable" Nazi Enigma code, a key factor in victory in World War Two, Britain has begun a hunt to find new cyber spies from the "Xbox" generation.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the government was looking for up to 100 apprentices for Britain's intelligence agencies to emulate the men and women who worked at Bletchley Park, the former code-breaking centre just north of London and once the most secret place in Britain.

"Today we are not at war, but I see evidence every day of deliberate, organised attacks against intellectual property and government networks in the United Kingdom from cyber criminals or foreign actors," Hague said.

"It will be the young innovators of this generation who will help keep our country safe in years to come against threats which are every bit as serious as some of those confronted in the Second World War."

In 2012, Jonathan Evans, Director-General of the MI5 domestic spy agency, warned of "industrial-scale" cyber espionage and theft against Britain and cited the case of an unnamed London-listed company which lost €1bn as the result of a state cyber attack from abroad.

The apprenticeship scheme aims to recruit talented potential code-breakers and computer scientists from school pupils and university students mainly to the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the state eavesdropping service.

The Foreign Office said they wanted to tap into the "Xbox" generation who had grown up in a world of social media and interactive computer gaming.