WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The United States' top spy catcher said Chinese espionage agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts to try to recruit Americans with access to government and commercial secrets, and the company should shut them down.
William Evanina, the U.S. counter-intelligence chief, told Reuters in an interview that intelligence and law enforcement officials have told LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft Corp., about China's "super aggressive" efforts on the site.
He said the Chinese campaign includes contacting thousands of LinkedIn members at a time, but he declined to say how many fake accounts U.S. intelligence had discovered, how many Americans may have been contacted and how much success China has had in the recruitment drive.
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WNU Editor: LinkedIn boasts 562 million users in more than 200 counties and territories, including 149 million U.S. members. It is a fertile ground to target people and to learn what they are doing, and I suspect that the Chinese are not the only ones who are using it for intel reasons.
