Government Official Confirms MoD Looking at Security Risk from Chinese Cars, as Personnel Instructed to Refrain from Secret Talk in Cars.
An defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, including transport use to communication habits.
