A U.S.-backed alliance of intelligence organizations issued a warning on Wednesday that China is using employment websites to recruit spies for the Chinese government.
Chinese recruiters are using job listing websites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Upwork to recruit spies, according to a warning from joint intelligence alliance Five Eyes. Government employees, military personnel and people with access to classified information are being targeted by the Chinese recruitment efforts, according to the group.
The FBI told the DCNF that this Chinese tactic was deceptive and unusual.
“China has consistently demonstrated a willingness to disregard laws, norms, and international standards in pursuit of its intelligence objectives, often relying on deceptive online tactics to target Americans with access to privileged and sensitive information,” the FBI press office told the DCNF. “The FBI, together with our Five Eyes partners, will continue to disrupt and dismantle virtual targeting efforts by China and other Foreign Intelligence Services and keep American and Five Eyes citizens protected physically and virtually.”
Five Eyes includes the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia.
“Creating a fake account or misrepresenting your identity is a clear violation of our terms of service,” a LinkedIn spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We remain focused on detecting state-sponsored abuse, and will continue to enforce our policies against fake accounts.”
The White House, the Pentagon and Indeed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
‘A Five-Step Method’
Chinese agents have a five-step method for acquiring spies for their government, according to the Five Eyes report.
First, the Chinese government establishes contact through a job listing, followed by an interview. Then it tests the applicants by asking them to write a trial report on Chinese interests.
After this, “when they are required, interviews are held virtually,” according to the report. “Recruiters conceal their identity, and may start probing applicants about access to government contacts.”
Next, the Chinese agents move forward to request “a trial report on a topic such as China’s bilateral relations, the Indo Pacific region, and related defense issues, or international trade,” according to the report. Finally, the Chinese government pays the newly acquired asset “anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per report,” according to Five Eyes.
“Certain types of data can place the lives of frontline military or other personnel at risk, can weaken our economic prosperity, and enable interference in our democratic processes,” according to the statement.
One website mentioned in the Five Eyes warning told the DCNF it aims to combat this abuse through “detection tools.”
“We are aware of and vigilant about this issue and we closely monitor for any potential misuse of our marketplace by sophisticated state actors,” Upwork spokesperson Elisabeth Hutchinson told the DCNF. “We leverage a number of cutting-edge detection tools and methodologies to enable us to prevent and respond to these sorts of threats. Importantly, we maintain very close and productive working relationships with law enforcement partners and have an industry-leading team dedicated to ensuring the trust and safety of our platform.”
This is not the first time Chinese agents have used job listing websites to recruit spies. The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BFV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, accused China of doing something very similar, Reuters reported on Dec. 11, 2017, citing the BFV.
“Chinese intelligence services are active on networks like LinkedIn and have been trying for a while to extract information and find intelligence sources in this way,” Reuters reported, citing the BFV.
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