JAKARTA - Job vacancies on the internet do not always contain career offers. For certain people, especially those with access to sensitive information, job ads can be a trap door.
Citing a report from Kyodo News, Friday, June 5, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance warned that China was allegedly targeting government personnel, the military, and people close to confidential information through fake job postings on online platforms.
Five Eyes is an intelligence-sharing alliance that includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In a bulletin released Wednesday, Five Eyes said Chinese military intelligence used an aggressive online recruitment strategy. Chinese agents are suspected of posing as human resources consultants, representatives of private companies, or think tanks.
They then posted a fictitious job ad. The positions offered include foreign policy analyst or defense analyst.
After the applicant entered, the candidate was allegedly asked to provide information that was not available to the public.
According to Five Eyes, platforms such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and Upwork are used to place these ads. These sites are commonly used by professional job seekers so that fake ads can look natural.
"Chinese military intelligence services are using an increasing number of professional networking sites and online job-posting platforms to target government and military personnel of Five Eyes countries, as well as anyone with access to classified or privileged information," the Five Eyes statement said, as quoted by Kyodo News.
British Security Minister Dan Jarvis has called on potential targets of Chinese intelligence to be more alert to signs of online targeting.
"We ask them to recognize the indications of targeting through the internet and avoid actions that can inadvertently endanger our security," Jarvis said, as quoted by Kyodo News.
The vulnerable groups targeted include security clearance holders, military personnel, including those serving in the Indo-Pacific region, and people who have indirect access to government information.
This last category includes journalists and employees of think tanks. They may not hold classified documents, but could have information of value to foreign parties.
After the ad was posted, the Chinese agents allegedly searched the applicants' CVs to find people who had access to useful information. Interviews were then conducted virtually.
Applicants are then asked to write reports on China's relations with other countries, defense issues, or trade. After that, according to Five Eyes, candidates began to be encouraged to provide more sensitive information.
Communication is also moved to an encrypted messaging application, namely a conversation application with special protection so that the contents of the message are not easily read by other parties.
The rewards are not small. The recruits are said to be paid from several hundred to several thousand US dollars for each report. Payments are made via PayPal, Western Union, to cryptocurrencies, according to Five Eyes.
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