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Chinese MSS reveals case of new military equipment leakage, warns risk of temporary employees

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Oct 21, 2025 09:10 AM

To effectively improve efficiency, control labor costs, and meet short-term or project-specific staffing needs, some organizations opt to hire temporary employees. The Ministry of State Security (MSS) on Tuesday revealed cases where temporary employees leaked classified information, warning that these employees tend to have high mobility and corresponding risks of leakage.

If their background information is not thoroughly verified prior to onboarding, or if there is insufficient management and confidentiality training during their employment, they may become weak links in security and confidentiality work, as well as high-risk areas for information leakage incidents, the MSS said.

A public case shows that Zhang, a temporary employee at a national defense and military industry unit, wanted to "save respect" in front of relatives and friends. Taking advantage of his access to a classified production workshop, he secretly took photos of the new military equipment under development with his mobile phone when others were not looking, and sent the photos to a family chat group.

Later, a relative in the group forwarded the photos to other online chat groups, leading to the rapid spread of military-related classified information on the internet and causing serious harm from information leakage. Zhang was sentenced to five years in prison for intentionally disclosing state secrets.

In another case, a technology enterprise undertakes the operation and maintenance services of classified information systems for multiple Party and government organs in a province. An employee surnamed Sun of the enterprise, who is a classified information staff member, was stationed at one of these organs to provide on-site services.

However, Sun had long violated regulations by taking the classified laptop issued by the organ back to his home. One day, Sun brought the classified laptop to a restaurant for a meal. After he went out midway to answer a phone call, he found the classified laptop left on his seat had disappeared upon his return. In a panic, Sun had no choice but to report the case to the police. Afterwards, the thief was arrested, the classified laptop was recovered, and Sun was dismissed by his company.

Another person surnamed Jiang, who was in charge of a district-affiliated unit, in order to write a work summary, illegally copied two secret-level documents and handed them to Xie, the person in charge of the outsourced service organization undertaking the work.

Xie then transferred the documents to his subordinate Cheng, who, for convenience, took photos of the two documents with his mobile phone and sent them to a WeChat group. Through forwarding and spreading by group members, the documents led to information leakage. After the case occurred, Jiang was given disciplinary and administrative sanctions by the Party, and the relevant cooperation agreement with the organization was terminated.

The MSS further noted the necessity to further enhance the confidentiality awareness of all staff, strictly conduct background checks, and have them sign confidentiality commitments to ensure they are trustworthy, reliable, and free from risks and hidden dangers.

The "principle of least privilege" should be strictly implemented and not grant excessive permissions unless necessary for work. Meanwhile, a mechanism for regular review, examination, and cleanup of permissions should be established to firmly prevent unauthorized access and abuse of permissions.

Temporary employees should be fully included in the scope of daily confidentiality education and supervision, ensuring that all their behaviors during employment are supervised, traceable, and auditable, with no management blind spots left.

In accordance with the principles of "who is in charge, who is responsible" and "who uses, who is responsible," the employing departments should take the main responsibilities. For cases of information leakage caused by inadequate management, the relevant leaders and responsible personnel shall be seriously held accountable in accordance with the law.