GCHQ Director: The UK and Allies Must Counter âExistential Threatâ to the Digital Environment The UK must work with other liberal democracies to ensure the internet and emerging digital technologies remain free and open. This is the view of Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, who gave the 2021 Vincent Briscoe lecture for the Institute for Security Science and Technology at Imperial College London. Fleming began by noting the increasingly prominent role of technology in all areas of society, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in the past year. While technological advancements have had enormous benefits, improving interconnectivity and convenience, they have also provided more opportunities for malicious actors to cause harm. “We must acknowledge that our adversaries benefit too. They exploit the tools that were meant to bring society together to instead create discord,” he said. “They misuse that power to fuel division, exploit vulnerable people and peddle extreme views.”