LONDON: Security agencies from the “Five Eyes” alliance which includes the United States and Britain issued a warning on Wednesday about Chinese spies aggressively using online job platforms to recruit people with access to sensitive information.
The “Safeguarding Our Secrets” bulletin says China’s military intelligence services were using a wide array of professional networking sites and online recruitment services to target those in government, the military or anyone who could access classified information.
“Chinese 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,” the domestic security agencies from the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, said.
Although there have been similar warnings from individual countries in the past, the joint bulletin was described as unprecedented. Beijing has repeatedly rejected such espionage claims, calling them “pure fabrication and malicious slander.”
In the bulletin, the Five Eyes agencies said Chinese spies were particularly targeting those who specialized in defense, foreign affairs and intelligence, and military personnel, including those stationed in the Indo-Pacific region.
