MI5 Accuses China of Cyber-Espionage

A recently leaked report from Britain's national security agency, the MI5, warns UK businesses of cyber-espionage threats from China. The document describes spying techniques used by Chinese intelligence officers to obtain trade secrets.

The MI5 points at the Chinese government for being one of the biggest espionage threats to the United Kingdom. "Any UK company might be at risk if it holds information, which would benefit the Chinese," the leaked report reads.

According to The Sunday Times, the document is 14-page long and marked as restricted. Explicitly entitled "The Threat from Chinese Espionage," it was apparently circulated to a large number of city leaders and business executives last year.

Senior company officials are warned that hotel rooms in big Chinese cities, like Beijing or Shanghai, can be bugged or are searched in their absence. They are also advised that electronic gifts, especially storage devices like memory sticks, MP3 players or cameras, might not be so well intentioned and can carry computer trojans.

Another method of obtaining information popular with Chinese spies is extortion. "Chinese intelligence services have also been known to exploit vulnerabilities such as affairs and illegal activities to pressurize individuals to cooperate with them," is written in the report.

It is not the first time when China is blamed for cyber-attacks in the UK. In recent years, there have been many cyber-attacks, allegedly of Chinese origin, which targeted the computer networks of hundreds of banks, businesses and public institutions. However, this latest report represents one of the most explicit accusations of cyber-espionage aimed at the Chinese government.

About two weeks ago, the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, urged China to investigate the recent cyber-attacks against Google, Adobe Systems and thirty other large U.S. companies. The Chinese government has officially denied any involvement in the attacks, despite strong speculation that it might have sponsored them.