A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss classified material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider security situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.
