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.