Chinese and Russian operatives are reportedly using seduction and marriage to infiltrate U.S. tech firms and steal trade secrets, a growing espionage threat dubbed “sex warfare.”
Chinese and Russian operatives are reportedly using attractive women to infiltrate tech companies, seduce employees, and steal trade secrets a tactic intelligence experts call “sex warfare,” NDTV World reports.
James Mulvenon, chief intelligence officer of Pamir Consulting, said, “I’m getting an enormous number of very sophisticated LinkedIn requests from the same type of attractive young Chinese woman. It really seems to have ramped up recently.” He recounted how two Chinese women tried to enter a Virginia conference on Chinese investment risks. “We didn’t let them in,” he said.
Experts say spies often marry their targets or have children to maintain access. A former counterintelligence officer described it as a “lifelong collection operation.”
Beyond seduction, China reportedly hosts startup competitions to gather data, while Russia infiltrates tech startups and venture firms. Mulvenon warns the U.S. remains vulnerable due to cultural and legal limits on counterespionage.