Minister Says Ministry of Defence Looking at Security Risk from Chinese Cars, with Personnel Told to Avoid Confidential Discussions in Cars.
A defence official has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about classified information in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
