More than 10,000 people in Britain were targeted online in the past five years by hostile states, including China, who are seeking to recruit high-level officials through networking sites as spies.
Government officials and researchers with access to classified or commercially sensitive technology are at greatest risk from adversaries using fake profiles on sites such as LinkedIn, a new campaign launched this week found.
Unwitting potential targets are encouraged to link with foreign agents after being lured by so-called unique business opportunities or paid speaking roles at prestigious conferences, the UK security agency the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure said.
The 'Think before you Link' campaign is to warn 450,000 civil servants and private sector researchers about the danger of states manipulating networking sites for their own ends, the Financial Times said.
Foreign recruiters would then entice people to face-to-face meetings in which they could be bribed or blackmailed.
Officials declined to give details of countries or social media platforms, but China is known to use LinkedIn to snare targets. A video used to publicise the campaign features a male East Asian spy masquerading as a female recruiter.
China has history of using social media sites to secure classified information. Dickson Yeo, a Singaporean recruit for Chinese intelligence, spied on the US for four years after being given the task of spotting senior officials with access to important information.
The academic set up a fake political consultancy and trawled through social networking sites to find potential targets. He was jailed for 14 months before being returned to Singapore last year.
Ken McCallum, director general of security agency MI5 that oversees the work of CPNI, said the abuse of social networking sites was on an “industrial scale”.
India Test squad
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Vijay, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
The%20specs
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
THE SPECS
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Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km
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DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
WWE Super ShowDown results
Seth Rollins beat Baron Corbin to retain his WWE Universal title
Finn Balor defeated Andrade to stay WWE Intercontinental Championship
Shane McMahon defeated Roman Reigns
Lars Sullivan won by disqualification against Lucha House Party
Randy Orton beats Triple H
Braun Strowman beats Bobby Lashley
Kofi Kingston wins against Dolph Zigggler to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Mansoor Al Shehail won the 50-man Battle Royal
The Undertaker beat Goldberg
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
