In September 2000 the building was attacked by unapprehended forces using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank rocket , causing superficial damage . The Metropolitan Police recovered the discarded rocket launcher at Spring Gardens park in Vauxhall , as well as finding remains of the rocket which had exploded against an eighth floor window . Dissident Irish Republicans were believed to have been behind the attack . Writing in '' The Daily Telegraph '' after the attack , Alan Judd referred to detractors who wished a less visible physical presence for SIS ; writing that " Both sides of the Whitehall debate might now claim vindication by the rocket attack : on the one hand , the building 's profile made it an obvious target ; on the other , a headquarters with expensive security protection has been shown to be necessary . " On 1 June 2007 the building and its curtilage were designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 . The effect of the act was to make it a specific criminal offence for a person to trespass onto the site
the building was attacked
2000 MI6 attack
SIS Building