FBI and MI5 call out China for sponsoring cyber threats

The Wall Street Journal has now reported that two of the top global intelligence firms, U.S.' FBI and UK's MI5 have issued a rare joint statement, cautioning western tech companies to be careful when it comes to Chinese espionage. The statement was given at MI5's headquarters by MI5 director-general Ken McCallum and FBI director Christopher Wray. China has responded strongly to the accusations as well, with an embassy spokesperson in Washington describing the move as politicians who are destroying China's image with false claims. The Chinese government has essentially condemned the claims made by the intelligence firms and noted that it does not engage in state-sponsored cyberattacks and is actually a victim of them. The FBI and MI5 clarified that their words are not targeted at the Chinese public, they are aimed squarely at the Chinese government. The FBI claims that it opens an investigation into China's activities every 12 hours on average and the MI5 says that the number of its investigations into the country's interference is seven times more now than it was in 2018. Although the intelligence firms have not demanded that western tech organizations to stop doing business in China completely, they have asked such firms to be re-evaluate the risk in this space and be vigilant because Chinese laws make them vulnerable to state-sponsored interference.