In a first ever joint public appearance of security chiefs of the Five Eyes alliance (UK, Australia, New Zealand, US, and Canada), the leaders address the growing ‘existential’ concerns about the theft of commercial secrets by China. 

According to Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, more than 20,000 people in the UK have been approached covertly online by suspected Chinese agents, primarily through networking sites like LinkedIn. This represents a significant increase, doubling from the previously reported figure. 

“Across all five of our countries we are seeing a sharp rise in aggressive attempts by other states to steal competitive advantage,” said McCallum in a release by MI5. 

The MI5 has traditionally been focused on protecting government secrets from foreign spies, but the current focus has shifted towards the safeguarding of innovation. Now, startups, companies and organisations across the UK, who previously may not have been as concerned about security, are in the crosshairs of geopolitical interests. 

“This contest is particularly acute on emerging technologies; states which lead the way in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing and synthetic biology will have the power to shape all our futures, ” he continued. “We all need to be aware, and respond, before it’s too late.”

In an unusual move, the MI5 is now going public to warn the tens of thousands of UK companies potentially at risk. The consequences of theft in innovative fields like artificial intelligence (AI) extend beyond a company’s profitability, according to McCallum. 

“These technologies are at a historic moment where they are beginning to change our world in some pretty fundamental ways,” he told the BBC, emphasising that authoritarian states are keenly interested in exploiting these technologies for their benefit.

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These concerns were echoed by the heads of security agencies from the other Five Eyes nations. According to the FBI director Chris Wray, China is making economic espionage a central component of its national strategy.

The heads of security warned that decoupling their economies from China would be unrealistic and damaging. Instead, they said that the focus should be on identifying and protecting sensitive areas. 

The meeting was hosted by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the FBI. It comes on the backdrop of ongoing concerns in the Middle East, and increasing radicalisation domestically, highlighting the complex nature of the current global security landscape.

New guidance was published by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), the protective security arm of MI5 and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), to coincide with the event.

Photo courtesy of the FBI