Government Official States MoD Examining Security Risk from Chinese Cars, as Staff Advised to Refrain from Confidential Discussions in Cars.
A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
