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CPNI Launch new “This activity can affect anyone and is a risk to our national security and businesses across the country.

“The new app will help spot malicious approaches and I encourage everyone to download it and make use
‘Think Before you of its valuable information.”

Current and former civil servants can also be attractive targets because of their experience and if
Link’ App their positions are listed on sites such as LinkedIn, with this carrying the risk of fake offers of lucrative
consultancy work if they connect with unknown users. This app will therefore boost the support and advice
which government staff and particularly those working on sensitive policy, already receive.
New tools, such as the ‘Think Before You Link’ app, will enable users to conduct their own digital due
diligence and aims to increase awareness of the growing threat from digital espionage to the UK workforce
and citizens.

Director General of MI5 Ken McCallum said:

“MI5 has seen over 10,000 disguised approaches on professional networking sites from foreign spies to
An innovative new app allowing users of social media and professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn and people up and down the UK. Foreign spies are actively working to build relationships with those working in
Facebook, to better identify the hallmarks of fake profiles used by foreign spies and other malicious actors, government, in high-tech business and in academia.
and take steps to report and remove them, has been launched.

• New ‘Think Before you Link’ App will help businesses and the public protect themselves from The Think Before You Link app helps those who may be receiving disguised approaches, helping them to
conduct their own digital due diligence before accepting unknown contacts online.”
potential espionage
• Around 16.8 million LinkedIn users in the UK could be at risk Vincent Devine, the Government Chief Security Officer said:
• App will also help government staff spot malicious approaches online
“Hostile actors can easily use social media to conduct online research into an individual’s interests, activities
In the last year over 10,000 UK nationals from across business and society have been targeted in such ways and personal and professional connections. They can then use that information to target the individual
online. The use of fake profiles on social media and professional networking sites is occurring at scale. online.

A significant issue for users “The Think Before You Link app is an effective way for government staff and the public to protect
The use of fake profiles is a significant issue for the users of social media and professional networking sites. In themselves against those threats.”
the first half of last year alone LinkedIn stopped 11.6m fake accounts at registration. Estimates based on the
University of Portsmouth’s research findings suggest that around 16.8m LinkedIn users may have accepted
unknown contacts, with 1.6m of them working in industries classified as sensitive.
The research shows that awareness of the potential threat from state actors is lower than other potential
online threats. When users of LinkedIn and Facebook were asked specifically about fake profiles and the
motives of perpetrators more generally, they were most likely to think of trolling (80%), fraud (80%) and fake
news (79%), rather than economic espionage (64%). Over half of users (53%) could not name a state that
posts fake profiles. And yet, three quarters say they have knowingly received link requests from suspicious
profiles.

The new app is part of the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure’s (CPNI) ‘Think Before You Link’
campaign. It has been developed with behavioural scientists to include features such as a profile reviewer,
which will help individuals identify potentially fake profiles and report anything they deem suspicious.

The launch of the app comes as increased espionage by state actors persistently threatens the UK, and is
increasingly conducted online. However, the new research released today from the University of Portsmouth
shows that many social media and professional networking site users are unaware of the potential risks;
51% of users automatically accept link requests, whilst 45% believe that the targeting of individuals is a rare
occurrence.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay said:

“We know that the threat from online is increasing, with fake profiles on sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook
being created on an industrial scale.

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