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UK security service the MI5 has assessed that in excess of 10,000 UK nationals across virtually all government departments and key industries have been approached by malicious profiles on behalf of hostile states on a premier professional networking site over the last 5 years.
To combat this issue, Think Before You Link is a UK government security campaign from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI). The campaign videos and materials were created by London communications agency AML to highlight the possible dangers of connecting to unknown profiles on professional networking sites. The campaign has been adapted by UK ‘five eyes’ security partners UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
LinkedIn Used by ‘Hostile Actors’ to Seek Sensitive Information Online, MI5 Warns
MI5 arm CPNI has now launched Think Before You Link campaign to spread awareness among government officials about this threat. By Edited by Gadgets 360 Newsdesk | Updated: 22 April 2021 13:06 IST
Photo Credit: CPNI
Highlights
The UK is not the only country to have faced such an issue
LinkedIn said its teams work to keep the platform a safe place
LinkedIn has been used by “criminal and hostile actors” to approach at least 10,000 people over the past five years, according to British intelligence agency MI5. These anonymous “actors,” masquerading as recruiters, often connect with people in possession of or with access to valuable and sensitive information. They then present such individuals with lucrative opportunities, but the real intention is to collect as much information from the target, stated the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructur
MI5: Spies are using LinkedIn to steal secrets from UK nationals
As many as 10,000 Brits have been targeted, including security and military officials, civil servants, defence contractors and pharmaceutical industry experts
MI5: Spies are using LinkedIn to steal secrets from UK nationals
Security agency MI5 has warned that foreign spies are using LinkedIn to contact British officials and steal classified information from them.
The agency said that people using fake profiles LinkedIn had approached at least 10,000 Brits with access to sensitive information, across government departments and key industries, over the past five years.
China and Russia are thought to be among the hostile states using professional networking and social media sites to trick staff into revealing classified secrets.