MI5 boss warns British businesses over Chinese spying risk
British businesses need to be wary of the risk from Chinese spies, the boss of MI5 said today, in a rare public appearance.
More than 20,000 people in the UK have been contacted online by espionage agents linked to the Asian superpower, Ken McCallum, the head of the UK’s security services told the BBC during the inaugural Emerging Technology and Securing Innovation Security Summit in the US, attended by the so-called Five Eyes alliance.
Counterparts from security services in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand attended, along with industry leaders and entrepreneurs.
The security chiefs spoke out, highlighting the risk of commercial secrets being stolen by China, with tens of thousands of British firms potentially at risk of infiltration.
Speaking from Stanford University, California, in the heart of tech-focused Silicon Valley, McCallum told the BBC: “We have seen a sustained campaign on a pretty epic scale.
“If you’re working today at the cutting edge of technology then geopolitics is interested in you, even if you’re not interested in geopolitics.”
He said suspected Chinese agents had approached more than 20,000 Brits, some via the business networking site Linkedin, while MI5 had seen more than 20 Chinese firms consider or attempt to access sensitive UK tech at companies or universities via investment pathways.
The prospect of China stealing research in potentially risky fields like artificial intelligence (AI), life sciences or quantum computing could pose problems for western democracies, including political and election interference, he added.
AI is approaching a “historic moment” with the power to change society in “fundamental ways”, McCallum said, with “authoritarian states laser-focused” on what the tech could offer.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) boss Chris Way added: “China has made economic espionage and stealing others’ work and ideas a central component of its national strategy.
“That threat has only gotten more dangerous and more insidious in recent years.”
MI5 has previously focused on protecting government secrets but has now gone public in an original new approach to target its message at UK companies that could be in harm’s way.
It comes after a parliamentary researcher was arrested earlier this year over allegations of spying for China. He denies wrongdoing.
The Chinese embassy in London has been contacted for comment.