Ex-spooks are vulnerable and there are plenty of targets

BRITISH intelligence agencies have doubled in size in the past 15 years and many officers serve for under 10 years.

This means there is a huge pool of Brits with sensitive information.

Ex-spies will know operational details of MI6 missions against Russia, names of spies and double agents and new spying techniques. Diplomats may have data on ex-colleagues, Government plans and commercially sensitive projects. All of this can be used to give Russia the upper hand – making former staff vulnerable.

Particularly at risk are new businesses set up by former Government workers, needing cash to get started. The really difficult area is security, where many ex-spooks go to earn decent money.

Russians throwing cash at these companies to perform due diligence checks on employees or other small projects can mask their real intentions.

Gradually, people can be sucked in until they are compromised and find it hard to turn down lucrative contracts or refuse to work with someone they suddenly suspect is on the payroll of the Kremlin. It is in this area that Russia has been particularly aggressive – trying to employ British intelligence firms to find out information about individuals.

There are many ways Russia can subtly recruit someone. Sometimes they can do it and the target does not realise until it is too late. Other times a more direct approach is used – or even blackmail.