FBI and MI5: ‘The Chinese government is set on stealing your technology’

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The heads of the FBI and UK domestic security service shared a platform for the first time to warn of the dangers posed by the Chinese government's espionage operations. In front of an audience that included business CEOs and senior figures from universities, the directors of the FBI and MI5 spoke at a joint event.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Chinese government is set on stealing your technology, whatever it is that makes your industry tick. The benefits of keeping a piece of technology confidential may outweigh the benefits of accessing the Chinese market.

Keeping a technological edge may do more to increase a company's value than partnering with a Chinese company to sell into that huge Chinese market, only to find the Chinese government and your partner stealing and copying your innovation.

According to the two, the Chinese government is engaged in a campaign to gain access to important technology and to steal on a massive scale. The Chinese government has a global network of intelligence operatives and its hacking program dwarfs that of every other country. MI5 is running seven times as many investigations into Chinese activity as it was four years ago, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The heads of the FBI and MI5 are sharing a platform for the first time today. The clearest signal we can send is China. The threat is real and pressing and could be the most game-changing challenge we face, he said.

The case of a British aviation expert who was offered a job by a company that was actually a front for Chinese intelligence officers was cited in the report. An engineering firm was close to a deal with a Chinese company, but their technology was taken and the deal fell apart. The company went into Chapter 11.

The spokesman for China's embassy in Washington denied the allegations, telling the Associated Press that the country's government "firmly opposed and combats all forms of cyber- attacks." The Chinese government doesn't interfere in other countries' affairs but will defend itself against cyberattacks. According to the Wall Street Journal, the statement criticized U.S. politicians who have been tarnishing China's image and painting China as a threat.