An defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence environment highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of government operations, including transport usage to communication habits.
