Chinese spy, Jun Wei Yeo, used LinkedIn to gather intelligence

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After success using various social media sites, Yeo created a fake consulting company that used the same name as a prominent U.S. consulting firm that conducts public and government relations. He then posted job advertisements under that company name.

According to a press release, 90% of the resumes Yeo received came from U.S. military and government personnel with security clearances. These people’s resumes were passed to one of his Chinese handlers.  

Former government and military employees and contractors are not shy about publicly posting details of their work histories on the website in order to obtain lucrative jobs in the private sector.

Modern version of “classic tradecraft”

The use of LinkedIn is not surprising according to Matthew Brazil, the co-author of Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer. “I think lots of worldwide intelligence agencies probably use it to seek out sources of information,” he said. “Because it’s in everybody’s interest who is on LinkedIn to put their whole career on there for everybody to see — it’s an unusually valuable tool in that regard.”