Portable signal receiving devices distributed by foreign organizations Photo: China’s Ministry of State Security

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) on Saturday disclosed that multiple foreign organizations are using the lure of providing free equipment and sharing aviation information to attract "volunteers" among domestic aviation enthusiasts to illegally collect and transmit flight data of Chinese aircraft to foreign countries. In response, national security agencies, together with relevant departments, have carried out a special operation nationwide, seizing hundreds of sets of devices that have been deployed within the country and taken action against the individuals involved. 

According to an article released by MSS through its WeChat account, some foreign organizations have been active on major Chinese online platforms such as Weibo, Tieba, forums, QQ groups and video websites for an extended period. They manage to find active accounts of aviation enthusiasts and recruit them through "personalized" and "customized" advertisements via emails, text messages and other means.

In these advertisements, these foreign organizations take advantage of the enthusiasm and curiosity of aviation enthusiasts, using the lure of providing free equipment and sharing aviation information to "recruit" them.

These organizations also distributed portable signal receiving devices, which are similar in size to ordinary smartphones to the newly recruited "volunteers" through international express delivery. 

They then guide the "volunteers" to place the devices near aviation hubs within China, in order to collect information such as aircraft models, altitudes, longitudes, latitudes, speeds and headings within a certain range. The collected data is then transmitted in real-time to servers designated by these organizations.

National security agencies said that these foreign organizations have deployed a large number of such devices in provinces surrounding the Bohai Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea, the ministry said in the release. 

Foreign organizations not only steal civil aviation data but also sensitive information of military aircraft and other aircraft. Their devices also support remote online programming and can customize "personalized" functions. Moreover, these devices have built-in GPS chips, which can locate designated aircraft and quickly transmit sensitive data to foreign servers through encrypted transmission methods.

It is estimated that each device can send flight data of about 1,000 aircraft and about 130,000 location data per day. With a coverage radius of 300 to 400 kilometers, only about 300 devices need to be deployed to monitor and cover flight data of all aircraft in Chinese airspace.

Moreover, when a large number of illegal devices are in operation, they can also cause signal interference to the civil aviation and military air traffic control systems, posing a significant threat to aviation safety, the MSS said. 

In response to the theft of sensitive data by foreign organizations, national security agencies, together with relevant departments, have carried out a special operation nationwide and seized hundreds of sets of devices that have been deployed within the country and taken action against the individuals involved.

The ministry noted that according to China's Counter-Espionage Law, overseas institutions, organizations or individuals that instigate or fund others in stealing, probing, bribing, or illegally providing data that is related to national security constitute espionage and domestic institutions, organization or individual that colluded with overseas organizations in taking aforesaid moves also constitute espionage. 

And according to the Law on Data Security, any organization or individual collecting data should do so in a legal and legitimate manner and must not steal or obtain data through other illegal means.

Safeguarding national security is the responsibility and obligation of every citizen, the MSS said, noting citizens who discover illegal activities or suspicious situations that may harm national security to report them promptly through the 12339 reporting hotline, the online reporting platform, the official WeChat account of the MSS, or directly to the local national security agencies. 

Global Times