MI5 “outs” LinkedIn headhunters in Chinese spy warning to UK Parliament
British security service has issued an alert to the Houses of Parliament following the activities of two Chinese state actors who it says are using LinkedIn to build up contacts with MPs, peers, and other staff.
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The British security service has issued an alert to the Houses of Parliament following the activities of two Chinese state actors who it says are using LinkedIn to build up contacts with MPs, peers, and other staff.
The warning was circulated as a letter on Tuesday morning to members and staff who work in the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
MI5 singled out two LinkedIn profiles, which it says are used by the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).
Writing to Commons members, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle stated that the alert concerned MSS members posing as “civilian recruitment head-hunters” who were targeting individuals working in British politics to solicit "insider insights."
The aim, he added, was to collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents, and consultants acting on their behalf.
The MI5 alert detailed that rewards for connecting with the Chinese headhunters included all-expenses-paid trips to China, and payment for information through cash or cryptocurrency.
Targets are said to include "Parliament staff, economists, think tank employees, geo-political consultants and those working alongside [the government], including MPs and members of the House of Lords."
Security funding
The alert came as UK Security Minister Dan Jarvis announced a package of measures in the House of Commons to combat spying in the UK.
These included £170m to upgrade encrypted technology for government business, as well as new protections against Chinese cybercrime and attempts to influence UK university research.
Jarvis said rules will be tightened to tackle covert funding of political parties, while the Electoral Commission will be given greater enforcement powers.
Last week, the UK introduced a new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill aimed at strengthening the defenses of Britain's critical sectors.
On Friday, Cybernews reported that Chinese spies are also breaking into critical organizations by manipulating LLMs such as the Claude Code tool to carry out largely automated cyberattacks.
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