An defense minister has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been instructed to avoid discussing classified information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This broader security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of government activities, from transport usage to communication habits.
