Hidden Chinese tracking device ‘found in UK Government car’ sparks national security fears
EXCLUSIVEAt least one SIM card capable of transmitting location data was discovered in a sweep of government and diplomatic vehicles which uncovered ‘disturbing things’, a serving security source confirmed
https://wp.inews.co.uk/wp-content/up...all&quality=90A hidden Chinese tracking device was found in a UK Government car, a serving intelligence office has told i (File photos of China’s president Xi Jinping and Westminster: Getty)
A hidden Chinese tracking device was found in a UK Government car after intelligence officials stripped back vehicles in response to growing concerns over spyware, i has been told.
At least one SIM card capable of transmitting location data was discovered in a sweep of Government and diplomatic vehicles which uncovered “disturbing things”, a serving security source confirmed.
The geolocating device had been placed into a vehicle inside a sealed part imported from a supplier in China and installed by the vehicle manufacturer, according to the source.
Chinese officials dismissed the revelations as “groundless and sheer rumour”, adding: “We are firmly opposed to political manipulation on normal economic and trade cooperation or any smear on Chinese enterprises.”
The discovery raises serious national security concerns amid heightened demands from senior politicians for an urgent review into the “systemic threat” posed by Chinese intelligence.
Officials had dismantled the British Government vehicles and swept them deliberately for Chinese tracking SIMs to step up the UK’s defence against espionage from hostile states, according to two intelligence sources. The cars are used to transport Government ministers and diplomats.
A serving intelligence officer told i that at least one secret SIM card had been found during the searches. Such cards are capable of tracking the movement of vehicles and sending data back to state-owned suppliers in China had been found during the searches.
Cars have been “dismantled surgically down to the last nut and bolt” by intelligence workers and “rather disturbing things” have been found, the officer said.
The source told i: “It [the tracking SIMs] gives the ability to survey government over a period of months and years, constantly filing movements, constantly building up a rich picture of activity.
“You can do it slowly and methodically over a very, very long time. That’s the vulnerability.”
The searches were carried out amid growing fears that Chinese and Russian intelligence services have been targeting British ministers.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, senior backbench Conservative MP, told i: “I don’t know how much more the UK needs to know about the threat China poses to us all.
“Surely it is time to change the integrated review and refer to China as a systemic threat.”
Geolocating devices are able to be placed into vehicles without the knowledge of the manufacturers after being concealed inside sealed parts from suppliers in China, according to the serving security source.
Electronic Control Units (ECUs), which are responsible for the smooth operation of a vehicle’s engine and predominantly sought from China, are embedded with SIM cards before being sent to car manufacturers as sealed units, according to a serving security source.
The manufacturers fit the parts in cars without opening them because of various warranty and commercial agreements, the serving security source said.
The discovery of devices is believed by intelligence sources to be indicative of China’s broad approach to eavesdropping on the West rather than a specific targeting of ministers’ vehicles. Nevertheless, if operational, it would offer China the ability to track a minister’s movements.
A second intelligence source confirmed that in recent months a team of government officials put in charge of protecting national infrastructure had been “thoroughly sweeping” government vehicles for Chinese hardware.
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Multiple further sources warned that the occurrence of embedded SIMs in government cars was an example of China’s penetration of the supply chains of major car manufacturers.
“It’s more about quantity rather than anything specific,” a former GCHQ analyst told i. “The aim is to put trackers in as many cars as possible and then pinpoint in on sights of interest.”
They said: “If you’re stepping back a bit and saying what cars do park outside GCHQ or somewhere like Porton Down then you have the pool of information there if you ever need it.”
A former senior intelligence officer said the potential threat is “huge” because foreign intelligence services look to exploit “backdoors” with Chinese technology.
He told i: “Can the Chinese track our politicians if they want to? Yes. Can the Russians track our politicians if they want to? Yes. Can they listen to what they’re up to in the cars? If they’re tracking them, and they want to do that, of course they can.”
How SIM cards can be used to track vehicles
SIM cards are commonplace in vehicles, installed by car manufacturers for connectivity purposes, or simply to feed back data on the performance of a car. Most cars will have at least a 2G connection. But intelligence officials warn they have created an increased vulnerability to eavesdropping from hostile states.
Most commercial trackers are essentially SIM cards attached to batteries and every geolocation tracker that sends data via a cellular network requires one. A built-in navigation system in a car with the ability to give live traffic updates will need a SIM card to connect to a signal.
However, the SIMs allegedly embedded in ECUs by Chinese companies are put there without the car manufacturers’ knowledge and appear to give the Chinese suppliers the ability to connect to the car and collect data – including where it has been, how long it has been stopped in a certain place, and even the way in which it has been driven.
The revelations come after Westminster security was tightened in recent months following fears over Chinese and Russian spies targeting ministers.
People employed to work alongside ministers are set to be vetted for their connections to “hostile state actors” such as China.
Meanwhile, Government departments were urged to disconnect Chinese-made devices from core computer networks by a Cabinet review, as the Government steps up its defence against high-level espionage.
A spokesperson for the Embassy of China said: “We are firmly opposed to political manipulation on normal economic and trade cooperation or any smear on Chinese enterprises.
“The Chinese government always encourages Chinese companies to carry out foreign trade and investment cooperation in line with local laws as well as market principles and international rules. We are firmly against some people’s moves to deliberately overstretch the concept of national security to wear down Chinese enterprises.
“The global industrial and supply chains come into shape as a result of both the law of the market and the choices of businesses.
“Smearing and suppressing Chinese enterprises and pushing for decoupling and disrupting industrial and supply chains not only seriously undermines international trade rules, but will fragment the global market, and sabotage the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “As a matter of longstanding policy we would never comment on security matters.”
The Cabinet Office refused to comment.
https://wp.inews.co.uk/wp-content/up...2683.jpg?w=760Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith has called for China to be referred to as a ‘systemic threat'”‘ (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty)Another intelligence source, who until this year spent decades providing security advice to the UK Government, said that all the devices used for “eavesdropping and beaconry” have been SIM based. They added that China are “perfectly capable” of pulling off the widespread tracking of government vehicles.
“China is producing these things and they’ve also got the ability to do it at such scale they could implant a million things,” they said. “We’ve seen things that indicate the intention to do this stuff.”
The source said there is an “added danger” because some Government vehicles are rented and there are “serious supply chain vulnerabilities” with mainstream car manufacturers.
A recent freedom of information (FoI) request by the Press Association revealed the Ministry of Defence spent £16.6m on hire cars for staff in the year to November through its Phoenix II vehicle contract. While in the 2021-22 financial year, the Cabinet Office spent £1.619m on hire cars and taxis, according to a separate FOI reply.
“There are many assumptions made about supply chain security,” the intelligence source said. “You can’t secure that vehicle, therefore you don’t do anything that needs security within it.”
A former forensic vehicle examiner for the UK Government told i that “modern vehicles are serious data generators” with “embedded sims transferring data left right and centre”.
He added that manufacturers, many of which have Chinese backing, are “extremely cagey” about the information that is received from vehicles and that it was “completely plausible” data was making its way back to China.
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