The FBI said on Wednesday that it seized more than a dozen internet domains used by Chinese intelligence services to gain personal information in hopes of fooling, conscripting or blackmailing Americans with security clearances into divulging sensitive information.
“The fake consulting company domains seized by the FBI illustrate the lengths the Chinese government’s intelligence services will go to as they try to use AI-generated content to trick, recruit, or coerce current and former US security clearance holders into sharing sensitive information,” said Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, in a statement.
“The FBI and our partners have observed China’s intelligence services resort to using AI, professional networking sites, and online payment platforms to target Americans, and we have taken actions to defend the homeland and our national security.”
The seizures, announced on the same day that the US Treasury Department formally sanctioned China’s top hi-tech companies, underscore the uneasy nature of Washington-Beijing ties. Even as Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump touted bilateral ties after last month’s summit in Beijing, their respective government agencies have pursued policies that hamper, embarrass, or infuriate the other side.
“The allegation of so-called ‘Chinese espionage threat’ is entirely fabricated and constitutes malicious slander,” the Chinese embassy in Washington said. “We strongly condemn this.”
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Trial begins for 3 suspected Chinese agents accused of harassing US-based fugitive
