An defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security situation highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, from transport usage to communication practices.
