The director general of MI5 has called on tech companies to create methods which would allow the security services to access the secret, encrypted messages of people suspected of plotting terrorist attacks in the UK.

Speaking to ITV, Sir Andrew Parker says while the real world is regulated and policed, he finds it "mystifying" the same does not apply to cyberspace, calling it "a wild west, unregulated [and] inaccessible to authorities."

Some messaging apps use endtoend encryption, which means the content of messages can only be read by the sender and recipient, and cannot be intercepted by a third party such as security services.

Sir Andrew told ITV News Security Editor Rohit Kachroo: "I say to the [tech] companies: Can you please use the brilliant technologists you’ve got to answer this question, which is: Can you provide endtoend encryption but on an exceptional basis – exceptional basis – where there is a legal warrant and a compelling case to do it, provide access to stop the most serious forms of harm happening?"

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