A Chinese spy offered money and contracts for state secrets and confidential information.
The Times conducted an investigation and identified a Chinese spy operating under the name Robin Zhang on the social network LinkedIn. According to the newspaper, Zhang offered thousands of British civil servants and scientists money and lucrative contracts in exchange for state secrets. According to The Times, according to the British intelligence services, Zhang is an employee of the Ministry of State Security of China. His real name is known to the security services, but it is not disclosed.
On LinkedIn, Zhang created profiles under various names, as well as pages of fictional security companies from Shanghai. Most often, he posed as an employee of the Shanghai security firm Hujie Security Services.
Zhang is said to have been recruiting via LinkedIn for at least five years and is believed to have been in China all the time.
Other fictitious names of the spy include Eric Chen Yixi, Robin Cao, Lincoln Lam, John Lee, and Eric Kim. The profiles used images from real people's accounts or from photo databases. According to the magazine, Zhang is still active, although many of the profiles used were removed after LinkedIn launched a crackdown on fake accounts.
Zhang wrote to government officials, including intelligence officials, as well as scientists who have access to classified or commercial confidential information. His recruitment targets were mostly British citizens, although he sometimes wrote to foreigners as well. Zhang offered from £6,000 to £8,000 for information about intelligence officers, and even more substantial sums for information about the UK's counterterrorism security system. Sometimes he also offered lucrative contracts, and scientists were paid to travel to China to attend conferences.
Zhang's working methods, according to The Times, were rather crude, but they proved effective, as he addressed thousands of LinkedIn users with suggestions. Despite the fact that many ignored his suggestions, some did not even check whether the security company on whose behalf he spoke existed. In addition, he began with a request to provide harmless documents and information for a fee, and only gradually moved on to classified information.
One of the users that Zhang contacted for information said that he found him "unprofessional and pushy" by "offering money for confidential information about the UK's relationship with my country." Philip Ingram, a former colonel and experienced counterintelligence officer, told The Times that he also received a message from Zhang five years ago asking for a report on Britain's counterterrorism networks. However, this seemed suspicious to Ingram, as he could not find information about the company Zhang was acting for, and so quickly ended the interaction with the Chinese.
British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has already issued a warning that Chinese spies are using LinkedIn to recruit British citizens. "Not only civil servants need to be careful, but also businesses that have confidential commercial information, as well as scientists and researchers.",— he said.
The Times conducted an investigation and identified a Chinese spy operating under the name Robin Zhang on the social network LinkedIn. According to the newspaper, Zhang offered thousands of British civil servants and scientists money and lucrative contracts in exchange for state secrets. According to The Times, according to the British intelligence services, Zhang is an employee of the Ministry of State Security of China. His real name is known to the security services, but it is not disclosed.
On LinkedIn, Zhang created profiles under various names, as well as pages of fictional security companies from Shanghai. Most often, he posed as an employee of the Shanghai security firm Hujie Security Services.
Zhang is said to have been recruiting via LinkedIn for at least five years and is believed to have been in China all the time.
Other fictitious names of the spy include Eric Chen Yixi, Robin Cao, Lincoln Lam, John Lee, and Eric Kim. The profiles used images from real people's accounts or from photo databases. According to the magazine, Zhang is still active, although many of the profiles used were removed after LinkedIn launched a crackdown on fake accounts.
Zhang wrote to government officials, including intelligence officials, as well as scientists who have access to classified or commercial confidential information. His recruitment targets were mostly British citizens, although he sometimes wrote to foreigners as well. Zhang offered from £6,000 to £8,000 for information about intelligence officers, and even more substantial sums for information about the UK's counterterrorism security system. Sometimes he also offered lucrative contracts, and scientists were paid to travel to China to attend conferences.
Zhang's working methods, according to The Times, were rather crude, but they proved effective, as he addressed thousands of LinkedIn users with suggestions. Despite the fact that many ignored his suggestions, some did not even check whether the security company on whose behalf he spoke existed. In addition, he began with a request to provide harmless documents and information for a fee, and only gradually moved on to classified information.
One of the users that Zhang contacted for information said that he found him "unprofessional and pushy" by "offering money for confidential information about the UK's relationship with my country." Philip Ingram, a former colonel and experienced counterintelligence officer, told The Times that he also received a message from Zhang five years ago asking for a report on Britain's counterterrorism networks. However, this seemed suspicious to Ingram, as he could not find information about the company Zhang was acting for, and so quickly ended the interaction with the Chinese.
British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has already issued a warning that Chinese spies are using LinkedIn to recruit British citizens. "Not only civil servants need to be careful, but also businesses that have confidential commercial information, as well as scientists and researchers.",— he said.
