Government Official States MoD Investigating Potential Threat from Vehicles from China, as Personnel Instructed to Avoid Confidential Discussions in Cars.
An defense minister has stated that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been advised to refrain from discussing classified information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that security is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him 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 present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in all aspects of official activities, including transport use to communication habits.
