An defense minister has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, including transport use to communication habits.
