Profiles and job ads on LinkedIn could be Chinese spies, intelligence agencies warn
Chinese intelligence agencies are using fake profiles and job ads on LinkedIn to target government and military personnel in Australia and other allies, intelligence agencies warn.
Australia’s intelligence agency ASIO, as well as its Five Eyes allies in New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, released a joint statement warning that Chinese intelligence officers were using employment websites, including Indeed and Upwork, to try to recruit people to share sensitive or confidential information.
The Five Eyes agency said Chinese intelligence agents were offering payment in return for sensitive information. Andy Wong
This can involve payments of up to several thousand dollars, according to a report titled Safeguarding our Secrets, released today.
The document claimed Chinese intelligence officers would pose as online HR recruiters or consultants who represent fake cover companies that look legitimate and purportedly operate outside of China.
Military personnel, people in defence, foreign affairs, and intelligence, as well as people with potential access to government documents, could be vulnerable to targeting by such schemes, the report said.
“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 defence analysts,” it said.
ASIO Director-General of Security Mike Burgess standing outside of ASIO headquarters in Canberra. nna\KCampbell
“Successful candidates are pressured to provide ‘non-public’ information for unspecified clients who are associated with the Chinese government.”
The Chinese government, the report said, is trying to gain access to privileged military and political intelligence that can provide its intelligence agency with an advantage over the Five Eyes alliance.
The document outlines the steps that Chinese agents take in trying to recruit assets, which begin with fake profiles and job listings in the hope that people with access to sensitive information apply.
They are asked to do a “trial report” on a non-sensitive issue, usually on a topic like the Indo-Pacific region or China’s international relations, to gauge the target’s suitability and knowledge of political affairs.
If the candidates pass this stage, conversations are moved to an encrypted platform, where the recruits are asked to access “privileged information.”
They are promised payments ranging from hundreds of dollars to several thousand dollars per report, which may include documents or sensitive political, military, or economic information.
Alexander Csergo was found guilty of acting as a source for Chinas Ministry of State Security. Sitthixay Ditthavong
“Payment methods include third-party payment platforms… e-transfer and cryptocurrency,” the report added.
The report indicates it has already uncovered people who have been involved in such schemes, saying it has led to “criminal prosecutions, job losses, and security-clearance revocation.”
Earlier this year, three people were charged in the ACT for reckless foreign interference after allegedly trying to infiltrate a Canberra-based Buddhist association, Guan Yin Citta, which is banned in China.
A Sydney court also found Australian businessman Alexander Csergo, an expat businessman, wrote reports for Chinese spies.
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