In this discussion Professor Keith Jeffery reflects on the general challenges to the work of secret intelligence organisations presented by an increasingly digitally connected world. Drawing on the history of MI6, he discusses some of the fundamental requirements which those organisations need to operate successfully, focusing particularly on the 'core business' of sources and methods.

Keith Jeffery is Professor of British History at Queen's University Belfast and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He is author or editor of fourteen books. His ground-breaking official history, MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service, 1909-49, was published in 2010.