China denies charges by the U.S. Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX), the counterintelligence agency of the United States, that Beijing is using LinkedIn, the popular job-hunting site, to recruit spies and obtain classified information from the USA.
ONCIX sent a worldwide warning that China's spy agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts to recruit Americans with access to secret or confidential information held by the U.S. government and the private sector.
William Evanina, who is NCIX (or chief executive officer) of ONCIX, said his agency and other law enforcement agencies have told LinkedIn about China's "super aggressive" efforts to recruit spies.
This is the first time the U.S. has publicly discussed China's spy recruitment efforts. This avowal seems to suggest China's LinkedIn campaign is a far larger problem than originally thought.
LinkedIn has 575 million users in more than 200 counties and territories worldwide. It has more than 150 million members in the United States. It's the 34th most popular site on Alexa and is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, denied Evanina charges, calling it complete nonsense. It said it doesn't know what evidence Evanina has that caused him to reach this conclusion.
Evanina said there are instances when China's massive online spy recruitment campaign has seen it make contact thousands of LinkedIn members at a time. He said LinkedIn should look at copying the response of Twitter, Google, and Facebook to their problems with fake news. Major social media firms are purging fake accounts linked to Russian and Iranian intelligence agencies. Evanina noted that LinkedIn "is a victim here."
The counterintelligence services of Germany and the United Kingdom previously warned their citizens that China is using LinkedIn to try to recruit them as spies.
Paul Rockwell, head of trust and safety at LinkedIn, did confirm the company is talking to U.S. law enforcement agencies about Chinese espionage efforts. In early August, LinkedIn took down down some 40 fake accounts whose creators attempted to contact LinkedIn members belonging to unknown political organizations. These were probably Chinese creators but LinkedIn refused to confirm this speculation.
Rockwell said LinkedIn is doing everything it can to identify and stop Chinese espionage via LinkedIn. He pointed out that LinkedIn has never waited for requests to act and has actively identified attackers. LinkedIn has also removed bad accounts using information it uncovers.
Rockwell refused to say how many fake LinkedIn accounts are associated with Chinese spy agencies. He said the company takes very prompt action to restrict accounts and halts any essential damage that might occur.
