Although the UK has experienced five terror attacks this year, MI5 recently revealed that security services have foiled a further nine planned attacks in the country.
The information was shared at the agency’s regular weekly meeting at Downing Street, and the organisation warned that there has been a significant increase in the rate of attack planning in 2017.
The government has not released details of any of the thwarted plots, as court proceedings are ongoing in some of the cases. But a spokesperson for prime minister Theresa May told the Metro that although Islamic State has suffered defeats in some of its Middle Eastern strongholds, it is still a danger.
“It is spreading to new areas, including trying to encourage attacks on the UK and elsewhere via propaganda on social media,” the spokesperson said.
Social media is a particular focus for counter-terrorism activity, with the government putting pressure on sites like Facebook to remove extremist content quickly, the Metro noted.
Businesses, particularly in big cities and busy areas, may want to think about what they can do to protect employees and customers or visitors in the event of an attack nearby. Fitting anti-shatter window films to glazing could be one option, to provide greater protection in the event of a bomb or other explosion.
Sky News reported that UK counter terrorism forces are thought to be running around 500 live investigations covering 3,000 individuals at any one time. That doesn’t include the wider pool of subjects of interest, who are thought to number 20,000 and who are also monitored by security services.