German spy chief warns of Chinese cyber infiltration effort

The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, BfV, said Sunday that Chinese intelligence agents are using LinkedIn to target European officials and businesses, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Hans-Georg Maassen said more than 10,000 Germans have been targeted by Chinese agents posing as consultants, headhunters or researchers, mainly through the professional networking site.

The BfV established a task force earlier this year to examine the use of fake profiles on social network over a nine-month period, the AP noted. 

{mosads}Chinese hackers are also attacking European companies by targeting service providers, the BfV found.

“The infections are difficult to detect, since network connections between service providers and their customers aren’t suspicious,” the agency told the news service.

And Chinese cyber groups are reportedly using “supply-chain attacks” to get around companies’ online defenses. The hackers target service providers, such as IT workers, to send malicious software into a company’s network, the AP reported.