The UK Ministry of Defence has urged its employees to refrain from discussing classified information in Chinese electric vehicles due to the risks of potential espionage. This is reported by UNN with reference to The Telegraph.
Details
It is noted that warning stickers have appeared in the Ministry of Defence's official electric cars, prohibiting military personnel from conducting official conversations inside the vehicles, as there are fears that China may be monitoring conversations.
The publication reports that the ministry has leased hundreds of electric vehicles in an attempt to reduce emissions and transition to more environmentally friendly transport. The stickers, placed on the dashboard, specifically state: "Do not connect MoD devices to the vehicle" and "Avoid official conversations in the vehicle."
In addition, the department has already banned parking certain electric vehicles with Chinese components near some military facilities.
The Ministry of Defence clarified that these restrictions actually apply to all leased civilian vehicles, not just electric cars.
According to the latest data, the military department's fleet includes approximately 1,400 hybrids and about 745 electric vehicles, many of which are MG models produced by a Chinese state-owned company from Shanghai.
Modern vehicles are not just cars, but computer systems with built-in surveillance and sensors that can send data to manufacturers. It would be obvious to everyone that cars used by Ministry of Defence employees would have the potential to transmit data, including any devices connected to the car, or voice data.
According to a report by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, concerns were indeed raised that China, which dominates the market, could effectively eavesdrop on conversations using electric vehicles.
Recall
Global sales of all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by 23% in October to 1.9 million units. Europe led the growth, while North America saw a 41% drop in sales.