The United States and its Five Eyes partners—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—issue a joint warning about alleged Chinese intelligence activity using online job and networking platforms, including LinkedIn. Multiple outlets report the advisory describes attempts by people posing as recruiters to identify and approach individuals with access to non-public government and military information. According to the accounts, targets are contacted through fake profiles and job advertisements that resemble legitimate roles related to defence, foreign policy, or other policy and analysis areas. In some reporting, contacts offer money or payments to successful recruits, with the intent of drawing out sensitive information. Some sources also describe the use of cover companies and recruiters as part of the approach. The warnings say the recruitment efforts can create risks for national security as well as personal privacy for individuals who engage with the offers. China denies the allegations, according to reporting. Outlets characterize the joint notice as rare or unprecedented among similar intelligence advisories from the group.
Five Eyes warns Chinese spies use LinkedIn and job ads to recruit sensitive-information targets
The United States and its Five Eyes partners—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—issue a joint warning about alleged Chinese intelligence activity using online job and networking pl...
- The US and Five Eyes partners issue a joint warning about alleged Chinese spy recruitment using online job and networking platforms such as LinkedIn.
- The reported tactics include fake profiles and job advertisements used to pose as recruiters targeting government and military-related personnel.
- The described approach seeks non-public or sensitive information, creating national security and personal privacy risks.
- Some reporting states the activity involves cover companies and may include payments or other incentives to candidates.
- China denies the allegations.
The U.S. and its Five Eyes partners warned that Chinese military intelligence services were behind “cover companies” using job platforms to pry sensitive information from foreigners.
2 months agoChinese spies are posing as job recruiters to trick staff in western governments into disclosing sensitive information, the Five Eyes alliance of security agencies has warned. China’s military intelligence services advertise false jobs such as foreign policy or defence analysts on platforms including LinkedIn, the spy agencies of Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and […]
2 months agoChinese military intelligence services are using Western professional networking platforms and online job sites to obtain secrets, according to a threat notice issued by the FBI, Britain's MI5 security service and three other allied security agencies.
2 months agoThe U.S. and its Five Eyes intelligence partners issued a joint warning (PDF) that Chinese military intelligence services are using LinkedIn and other professional networking sites to recruit people with access to government, military, foreign policy, or sensitive economic information. "These actors use an aggressive online recruitment strategy whereby intelligence officers or their affiliates pose as employees of private consultancies, think tanks or human resources firms, and place online job advertisements for foreign policy and defense analysts," the agencies said Wednesday. "China's military intelligence services ultimately seek to acquire privileged military, political and economic intelligence that can provide China with a strategic and tactical advantage over the Five Eyes." Bloomberg reports: China was targeting Five Eyes nationals with security clearance, particularly those working in foreign affairs, security and intelligence, and military personnel including people stationed in the Asia-Pacific region, it said. People with more peripheral access to government information, such as academics, journalists and think tank employees, were also being approached. The Chinese embassy in the UK strongly condemned the accusations, calling the allegation of Chinese espionage threats "entirely fabricated" and "malicious slander." The "Five Eyes" members have "engaged in unscrupulous espionage and intelligence-gathering activities around the globe. Their activities are the real threat to peace-loving countries," the embassy said in a statement Thursday. [...] According to the agencies, Chinese spies have commissioned reports to be written by those they've approached, paying them anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, with payments sometimes made in cryptocurrency. "Military members may be asked about their roles and unit activities, home base or naval vessel," the notice said. "Five Eyes agencies have identified individuals who have undertaken these activities, leading to criminal prosecutions, job losses, and security-clearance revocation," it warned. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
2 months agoThe warning said China is stepping up efforts to recruit individuals with direct or indirect access to classified government information.
2 months agoThe advisory warns that Chinese spies are using public job search platforms to recruit people with access to non-public information.
2 months ago
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