UK intelligence chief has raised fears over Chinese renminbi

China’s digital renminbi, which is widely promoted before the Beijing Winter Olympics, is at risk of becoming a tool to monitor users and direct global financial transactions, the head of UK Signs GCHQ has warned.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Sir Jeremy Fleming noted that while digital currency offers “great opportunities” to establish payment mechanisms for democracy, the development of this new technology is also dangerous.

“If it is set up incorrectly, it gives the hostile world the power to control events,” he said. “It gives them skills. . . to be able to control what is happening in digital currency. ”

The spy chief spoke to FT earlier this week from London’s National Cyber ​​Security Center, GCHQ security arm, ahead of the launch of the new cyber technology.

The document, which is expected later this month, will serve as a blueprint for tackling digital threats at a time when cyberbullying is rampant. Fleming said GCHQ are “hunters and game hunters” in the region, and they are responsible for protecting the country from violence and terrorist attacks.

The agency, which has an obedient base in Britain and overseas, works closely with its well-known sisters MI5 and MI6, who work in domestic and foreign intelligence, respectively. However, GCHQ’s digital expertise is in high demand due to what Fleming calls “technical” expertise in society.

Instead, the threats have changed dramatically since the agency participated in World War II, when GCHQ code breakers removed Nazi messages from the obscure buildings of Bletchley Park.

He said China was now “the biggest issue” the UK was facing, and was expanding its intelligence services and seeking to improve digital weapons. “China has stolen the trip. . .[it’s]investing more, more clearly and secretly, and that is why it is beginning to have an impact on how traffic laws will work professionally and digitally, “Fleming explained.” We need to know how to respond to all of this. “

The spy chief was keen to emphasize the need for the UK to remain free to trade with Beijing and to work together in areas such as climate change.

But he worries that if other countries gather more information about British citizens – how they work, shop, socialize and travel – it could be “very disruptive” and could lead to “erosion of power”. Earlier this month Richard Moore, MI6 chief executive, said China was exporting technologies that allow the use of the “network of regimes” around the world and criticized Beijing for catching other countries “data traps”.

Digital money can be one such trap, and 140m people and businesses has already registered to use digital renminbi, according to the People’s Bank of China. “In the case of Upcoming Olympic Games. . .“China is using every opportunity to showcase their digital assets, and their hope is that foreign visitors will use it in the same way as domestic tourists,” Fleming said.

He hopes Beijing will join forces with international organizations in approving online financial management. Countries and other organizations have shown “genuine thirst” for better dialogue on the issue, Fleming said, but also said they had “not seen this pull from China”.

Such ridicule is similar to that of the 54-year-old GCHQ chief, who is the most cautious and timid of three British intelligence agents. His 28-year-old wise career began when, after a brief stint as a city accountant, he applied for a job at the Ministry of Defense.

This became a post on MI5, where he was later linked to the London 7/7 terrorist attacks, leading the preparations for the 2012 Olympic defense preparations.

One of Fleming’s major roles was to develop Britain’s expertise in online warfare. The difference between the online world and the secret business, and many of the UK’s “cyber threats” remain well-known.

Last year the ministers announced the appointment of a National Cyber ​​Force , led by GCHQ and MoD, to fight online enemies by blocking cell phones, disrupting servers and breaking enemy weapons. According to Fleming, this unit, located in a suburb of Lancashire, will “become an integral part of the computer system. . . and how nations compete ”.

Although Britain has publicly denounced countries such as Russia and China for embezzlement, Fleming declined to comment on how the UK is fighting online warfare. “We need to put a little space between operations and negotiations,” the spy chief said. “These skills are carefully monitored and well monitored.”

The only well-known example of the UK’s offensive campaign was against Islamic State, in an attempt by the group to create a caliphate across Syria and Iraq. The operation involved suppressing the group’s lies by destroying IT equipment and reducing its power on the battlefield by banning drones.

As cyber technologies become more and more common, not all threats come directly from social enemies. Last month in the US allowed The NSO Group, a spy company in Israel, has been accused of using its programs to control the rights of human rights activists and journalists around the world, including the editor of the newspaper.

Fleming described the NSO fraudulent transfer as “unlimited”, adding: “My guess is that the countries or companies that advertise. [technology] in such an impulsive manner is harmful and should not be tolerated. ”

The UK did not follow the US in approving the NSO but Fleming said it was “certain” that it was a problem the government “wants to address”.

In the short term, GCHQ is focused on tackling some of the consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic, from spying that seeks to steal vaccine research to the rise of ransomware risk due to the increased risk of working remotely. About 40 percent of UK businesses experience cyber attacks or attacks so far this year.

These escalating threats have given his organization a greater chance. “The work of the GCHQ is changing rapidly,” said Fleming, acknowledging that the evolutionary process is among the fastest. . . in our history ”. “In the end, you have thousands of professionals in GCHQ whose expertise can handle a lot of challenges. [than espionage]”, He explained.

One of the evolutionary trends is the recognition that information institutions cannot perform all their functions with in-house technology. As FT reported earlier this year, GCHQ has pioneered new contractand AWS, Amazon’s cloud computing arm, to receive confidential data of British spy agencies. Although Fleming could not comment on the deal, he appeared to be open to future agreements and alliances with technology companies.

“It ‘s not a good example for UK intellectuals to lock themselves in the world’s most advanced, secure technology,” Fleming insisted. “The technical world is a global country and we have to play in that environment.”