Jeremy Fleming
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Sir Jeremy Ian Fleming was the Director of the
Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom. Primari ...
, the UK's intelligence, cyber and security agency. He was appointed in 2017 and was the 16th person to hold the role. He left the post in May 2023.


Education and early career

Fleming studied economic and social history at the
University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
before training as a chartered accountant in the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
. He later worked for the government practice arm of
Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
, and was seconded from there in 1993 to
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
under the pretext of a role at the
Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
.


MI5

His initial role upon secondment was to make MI5's finances more transparent to parliamentary scrutiny. He later gained extensive operational, investigative and leadership experience across the full range of national security work. He helped shape MI5's response to the London terrorist attacks in 2005, led the revision and publication of the Government's counter-terrorism strategy,
CONTEST CONTEST is the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy, first developed by Sir David Omand and the Home Office in early 2003 as the immediate response to 9/11, and a revised version was made public in 2006. Further revisions were publish ...
and was promoted to Assistant Director General to lead MI5's preparations for the
London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. He then spent four years as Deputy Director General with responsibility for all investigations and operations. He was appointed
Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...
in the 2017 New Year Honours.


GCHQ

In GCHQ, Fleming has overseen the further development of the National Cyber Security Centre with a mission to make the UK the safest place to live and do business online. It has become a world leader in bringing together Government, industry and international partners to address cyber threats and inform the public. Fleming has overseen a significant period of growth in the Agency, with the development of a strategic base in Manchester and a focus on diversity and inclusion. In 2019 he led GCHQ's centenary celebrations with the publication of a landmark official history. And in 2020, a new partnership with the
Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
was announced to create a
National Cyber Force The National Cyber Force (NCF) is intended to consolidate offensive cyber activity in the United Kingdom, by enabling an offensive capability to combat security threats, hostile states, terror groups, extremism, hackers, disinformation and elect ...
charged with delivering cyber operations. He was appointed
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...
(KCMG) in the
2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for services to national security. He was Honorary Colonel of the Joint Service Signal Unit (Reserves) of the
Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...
until August 2023.


Notable speeches and interviews


Cyber

In October 2018, Fleming described how the UK must continue to think strategically about its national response to the new generation of technology. As part of the
International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is an international research institute or think tank focusing on defence and security issues. Since 1997, its headquarters have been at Arundel House in London. It has offices on four co ...
Fullerton Lecture Series in February 2019, he described the concept of cyber power - what that requires of a country, and the rules, regulations and ethics needed to exercise such power responsibly. Fleming built on this the following month when speaking to 29 member states at the
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
Cyber Defence Pledge conference, talking of the need to work together to tackle common threats and to be prepared for cyber attacks against their countries. He stressed that a framework was needed that promotes the responsible projection of a nation's cyber capabilities. In June 2019, he touched on the role of GCHQ and the NCSC in protecting the Digital Homeland of the UK and in particular the work the organisations have done to keep businesses safe online He also encouraged businesses to work with government and academia to help create a more cyber literate population and to invest in the cyber and digital skills for the next generation.


Technology

In his first public speech at CyberUK in April 2018, Fleming warned that the UK's adversaries were proactively using technology to further their cause and that the threats they face were changing constantly and becoming more complex. Later that year at the Billington Cyber Security Summit he stressed the need to build secure technology in order to keep citizens, economies and societies safe. In April 2021 Fleming discussed the impact fundamental changes in the tech environment have had on the UK's economy and society, and the way in which the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
accelerated those trends at home but also enabled their adversaries in new ways. He also examined the challenges surrounding geopolitical competition in technology, and the need to reform the international approach to cyber and technology for the 21st century.


China

In October 2022, Fleming warned in an interview of China's use of technology to attack satellite systems, to control digital currencies and to control dissent by tracking individuals. He also expressed concern over China's clientelist development strategies, the potential loss of the West's leadership in certain critical technologies, and its dependencies on Chinese state-linked enterprises.


War in Ukraine

On a visit to the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
on 31 March 2022, Fleming talked about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He paid tribute to Ukrainian cyber security personnel, and pledged continued support.


Radio 4 ''Today Programme''

In December 2022 Fleming was the Guest Editor on an edition of the ''
Today Programme ''Today'', colloquially known as ''the Today programme'', is BBC Radio 4's long-running morning news and current-affairs radio programme. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 09:00 (starting on Saturday at 07:00), it is produced by BB ...
'' on
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Radio 4.


Other activities

Fleming joined Mastercard as a senior security adviser in October 2023.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Jeremy Directors of the Government Communications Headquarters Year of birth missing (living people) Living people MI5 personnel Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath