China Can Exploit UK Porn Block As Espionage Tool, Report Says

The upcoming and much-delayed United Kingdom anti-porn law, which when it finally goes into effect will require that porn site users prove that they are 18 or older, has become an entry point for foreign spies, particularly from China, to use the “age verification” system to spy on politicians, business leaders, and other public figures, according to a new study by a leading British think tank, The Henry Jackson Society. As AVN.com has reported, experts say there will be numerous technological solutions that will allow porn fans to skirt the law, such as a possible upcoming privacy feature in the popular Firefox web browser that allows users to access internet sites, porn and otherwise, in an anonymous and hard-to-trace fashion. But the Chinese are one step ahead when it comes to figuring out how to exploit the porn-block workarounds for espionage purposes, according to the HJS, as quoted by The Telegraph newspaper.   “Chinese firms have quietly cornered the market in technology that enables people to access porn sites without having to register their personal details with age verification firms or buy an age ID card in a newsagent,” the think tank found.  In fact, the most popular method for disguising a user’s identity online, Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, is now largely controlled by Chinese firms. “It has now emerged through an investigation by security experts that many of the VPNs are secretly controlled by Chinese-owned firms—as many as 30 per cent of the networks worldwide,” the think tank found. Because the Chinese government exercises tight control over industry in its country, and also has extremely loose privacy laws, the government at any time could demand data on the internet habits and other information on anyone using a VPN network controlled by a Chinese company. “A list of billions of late-night website visits of civil servants, diplomats, and politicians could—in the wrong hands—amount to the largest-ever kompromat file compiled on British individuals,” said HJS spokesperson Sam Armstrong, who went on to explain that individuals in sensitive political jobs are the most likely to seek anonymity for their private internet habits. “The opaque ownership of these VPNs by Chinese firms means there is a real likelihood any browsing going through them could fall into the hands of Chinese intelligence,” Armstrong said. As AVN.com has reported, experts have warned for nearly two years that the law’s requirement for users to upload personal data in order to access porn sites could pose a national security risk, but the HJS report is the first warning that users who seek ways to circumvent the data-uploading requirement may also be at risk of compromise. Photo By Kremlin.ru / Wikimedia Commons