China accused of using fake LinkedIn profiles to target NATO, EU staff | Daily Sabah

China allegedly used fake profiles on LinkedIn to gather sensitive information from staff at NATO and European Union institutions, a European security source said Friday. The operation, allegedly orchestrated by Beijing’s state security ministry, targeted dozens of employees at the military alliance or EU organisations through fictitious accounts, the source said, confirming reports in French and Belgian media. Posing as recruiters on the online professional networking platform, Chinese spies would initially request paid reports before later soliciting non-public or even classified information. One particularly active fake profile used the name “Kevin Zhang,” claiming to be the head of a fictitious Hong Kong-based firm called “Oriental Consulting,” the security source told AFP. In return, recruits from countries including France, Belgium and the United Kingdom were paid several hundred – and in some cases several thousand – dollars, the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. For years, “various civil servants, academics and other influential figures around the world have been approached by what turned out to be an agent of the Chinese intelligence services,” Belgian Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden told AFP. Through this operation, “a great deal of important information and intelligence may have reached China,” she added. She laid
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