China recruiting spies in the UK with fake headhunters and ‘sites like LinkedIn’
(2025/11/19)
- Reference: 1763530644
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/11/19/mi5_linkedin_china_spy_warning/
- Source link:
Chinese spies are using social media and fake recruitment agents to recruit sources with access to sensitive information in the UK.
"Security Minister Dan Jarvis yesterday [1]told the House of Commons that intelligence service MI5 “issued an espionage alert to Members of this House, Members of the other place and parliamentary staff to warn them about ongoing targeting of our democratic institutions by Chinese actors.”
Jarvis said the alert detailed China’s efforts “to recruit and cultivate individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK Government.”
[2]
“MI5 has stated that this activity is being carried out by a group of Chinese intelligence officers – often masked through the use of cover companies or external headhunters,” he added. A government [3]statement said MI5 “named two online profiles that are believed to be legitimate headhunters working for Chinese intelligence officials to build relationships with targets on sites like LinkedIn.”
[4]
[5]
MI5 is not the only intelligence agency to warn about social media’s potential to allow spying. In July, Mike Burgess, the Director-General of Australia’s Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) [6]said a foreign intelligence agency tried to find info about an Australian military project by cultivating relationships with people who worked on it. The agency’s task was made easy by the fact that over 100 people involved in the project mentioned it on their LinkedIn profiles. Burgess said over 35,000 profiles on a professional networking site include mentions of members who have access to “sensitive and potentially classified information.”
[7]UK may already be at war with Russia, ex-MI5 head suggests
[8]UK elections are unaffected by China's cyber-interference, says deputy PM
[9]Brussels weighs banning China from major EU research scheme
[10]UK asks cyberspies to probe whether Chinese buses can be switched off remotely
Jarvis said “It is not just parliamentarians who should be concerned by this; parliamentary staff, economists, think-tank employees, geopolitical consultants and Government officials have all been targeted for their networks and access to politicians.” The minister said China “has a low threshold for what information is considered to be of value, and will gather individual pieces of information to build a wider picture.”
“Let me speak plainly,” Jarvis added. “This activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere with our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests, and this Government will not tolerate it. It builds on a pattern of activity that we have seen from China, with cyber-operations by Chinese state-affiliated actors targeting parliamentarians’ emails in 2021, attempted foreign interference activity by Christine Lee [who MI5 believes aided China’s election interference efforts] in 2022, and other more recent cases.”
Jarvis also announced that the UK has now removed all surveillance equipment “manufactured by companies subject to the national intelligence law of the People’s Republic of China from all sensitive sites we maintain in the UK and around the world.”
[11]
A common interpretation of China’s national intelligence law is that it compels Chinese companies to assist espionage operations. Fears the law could see Beijing require Middle Kingdom CCTV companies to help its espionage efforts led to the 2022 [12]decision to remove Chinese video cameras in some UK government facilities. That job is now complete, but the UK’s efforts to improve security continue: Jarvis announced a £170 million ($224 million) investment in “renewing the sovereign and encrypted technology that civil servants use to safeguard sensitive work.” ®
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[1] https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025-11-18/debates/dffdae6d-3be2-46ec-9d40-00b03296cfe0/CommonsChamber
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aR2jR9u_JyGpCxRCk0eBXAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/action-to-disrupt-and-deter-threats-to-uk-as-mi5-issues-spy-alert
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aR2jR9u_JyGpCxRCk0eBXAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aR2jR9u_JyGpCxRCk0eBXAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/01/asio_espionage_social_media_warning/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/29/uk_russia_cyber_war/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/26/uk_elections_are_unaffected_by/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/12/europe_china_horizon/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/11/uk_probe_china_bus_claim/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aR2jR9u_JyGpCxRCk0eBXAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/25/uk_government_china_cctv_ban_/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
"Security Minister Dan Jarvis yesterday [1]told the House of Commons that intelligence service MI5 “issued an espionage alert to Members of this House, Members of the other place and parliamentary staff to warn them about ongoing targeting of our democratic institutions by Chinese actors.”
Jarvis said the alert detailed China’s efforts “to recruit and cultivate individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK Government.”
[2]
“MI5 has stated that this activity is being carried out by a group of Chinese intelligence officers – often masked through the use of cover companies or external headhunters,” he added. A government [3]statement said MI5 “named two online profiles that are believed to be legitimate headhunters working for Chinese intelligence officials to build relationships with targets on sites like LinkedIn.”
[4]
[5]
MI5 is not the only intelligence agency to warn about social media’s potential to allow spying. In July, Mike Burgess, the Director-General of Australia’s Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) [6]said a foreign intelligence agency tried to find info about an Australian military project by cultivating relationships with people who worked on it. The agency’s task was made easy by the fact that over 100 people involved in the project mentioned it on their LinkedIn profiles. Burgess said over 35,000 profiles on a professional networking site include mentions of members who have access to “sensitive and potentially classified information.”
[7]UK may already be at war with Russia, ex-MI5 head suggests
[8]UK elections are unaffected by China's cyber-interference, says deputy PM
[9]Brussels weighs banning China from major EU research scheme
[10]UK asks cyberspies to probe whether Chinese buses can be switched off remotely
Jarvis said “It is not just parliamentarians who should be concerned by this; parliamentary staff, economists, think-tank employees, geopolitical consultants and Government officials have all been targeted for their networks and access to politicians.” The minister said China “has a low threshold for what information is considered to be of value, and will gather individual pieces of information to build a wider picture.”
“Let me speak plainly,” Jarvis added. “This activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere with our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests, and this Government will not tolerate it. It builds on a pattern of activity that we have seen from China, with cyber-operations by Chinese state-affiliated actors targeting parliamentarians’ emails in 2021, attempted foreign interference activity by Christine Lee [who MI5 believes aided China’s election interference efforts] in 2022, and other more recent cases.”
Jarvis also announced that the UK has now removed all surveillance equipment “manufactured by companies subject to the national intelligence law of the People’s Republic of China from all sensitive sites we maintain in the UK and around the world.”
[11]
A common interpretation of China’s national intelligence law is that it compels Chinese companies to assist espionage operations. Fears the law could see Beijing require Middle Kingdom CCTV companies to help its espionage efforts led to the 2022 [12]decision to remove Chinese video cameras in some UK government facilities. That job is now complete, but the UK’s efforts to improve security continue: Jarvis announced a £170 million ($224 million) investment in “renewing the sovereign and encrypted technology that civil servants use to safeguard sensitive work.” ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025-11-18/debates/dffdae6d-3be2-46ec-9d40-00b03296cfe0/CommonsChamber
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aR2jR9u_JyGpCxRCk0eBXAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/action-to-disrupt-and-deter-threats-to-uk-as-mi5-issues-spy-alert
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aR2jR9u_JyGpCxRCk0eBXAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aR2jR9u_JyGpCxRCk0eBXAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/01/asio_espionage_social_media_warning/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/29/uk_russia_cyber_war/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/26/uk_elections_are_unaffected_by/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/12/europe_china_horizon/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/11/uk_probe_china_bus_claim/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aR2jR9u_JyGpCxRCk0eBXAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/25/uk_government_china_cctv_ban_/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Anonymous Coward
Lol if you need to work on secret squirrel things HMG makes it quite difficult, uncomfortable and expensive to get near those projects.
Conversly if you get elected (or happen to be a member of the Royal family) you can get access to pretty much anything you want by shouting loudly, stamping ones feet and making a ruddy good show of it. Then you can give any information you like to your new Chinese bestie/squeeze without any of that nonsense security getting in the way.
Having worked with politicians, most of them you could social engineer with a bag of sweets.
Ban LinkedIn
tiggity
That would solve one attack vector.
.. It's even more full of people lying & over stating their abilities / knowledge than other social media sites.
News at 10 - Spies are spying
QuickLuck
If I've understood what t'Government are saying, Chinese spies employed by the Chinese spy agency are spying on behalf of the Chinese government.
Well, no shit Sherlock. That's their job.
I'm pretty sure that British spies employed by M16 are spying on the Chinese on behalf of the UK Government. They'd bloody well better be. That's their job too.
Let's get really here the UK will sell anything like the current US administration at a price.