Britain's MI5 is sending out e-mail terror alerts to the public, signaling a growing openness by the domestic intelligence agency whose very existence was once shrouded in secrecy.
Anyone interested in following the perceived level of threat to Britain -- which has been set at "severe" since Aug. 14 -- can receive e-mail updates under a new MI5 scheme.
"What we're seeing is a recognition that the terrorism threat does not only affect the government," said Bob Ayers, a security expert at the British think tank, Chatham House. Businesses can act on the information faster and more efficiently by using the new system, he said.
But the e-mail service received a mixed reception from counterterrorism analysts, who suggest that security services faced with a clear and present danger would be in touch with the public via other means -- such as television and radio -- long before they sent e-mails.
Peter Neumann, the director of defense studies at King's College in London, suggested it was a "gimmick," from an agency growing more media savvy.
"I don't think anyone will depend on an e-mail," he said.
"You can get the syndrome of the little boy that cried wolf," said Alex Standish, editor of the Strategic Intelligence Review.
"If the government issues a warning and nothing happens, they are alarmist. If they don't issue a warning and something happens, they are incompetent. They cannot win," Standish said.
The government only officially acknowledged the existence of MI5 in 1989, and its leadership remained a state secret until 1992. Recently, however, it has tried to branch out, accepting applications online and recruiting widely. MI5's Web site, which first went live in 1998, was expanded in 2004 to give new security advice to the public.
"They're engaged in something of a charm offensive," Standish said.
"There is the realization that they need engage with the public if they want to protect it," he said.
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