The world's richest man, Elon Musk, has reacted to a report claiming Chinese and Russian operatives are targeting the American tech industry through deception and seduction. Sharing a screenshot of The Times (UK) report, headlined "Female spies are waging 'sex warfare' to steal Silicon Valley secrets," the SpaceX CEO referred to the latest meme and wrote, "If she's a 10, you're an asset."
Silicon Valley is a global hub for major tech companies, including Facebook, Apple, and Google.
The report alleged that China and Russia are sending attractive women to seduce tech workers - even marrying and having children with their targets. "It's the Wild West out there," the report mentioned.
James Mulvenon, who works as the chief intelligence officer at Pamir Consulting (a company that helps American businesses understand risks when dealing with China), said that he was recently targeted by women working as spies, according to The Times. These women tried to use romantic or sexual tricks to get access to secret information about US technology, he alleged.
According to the report, China is also organising startup competition inside the US to allegedly steal business ideas. Some even claim that it's been trying to damage the US tech ecosystem.
Back in February, a US House committee warned that China's Communist Party had been involved in more than 60 spying cases in the US over the last four years. A former intelligence officer said that number was probably much higher.
"China is targeting our startups, our academic institutions, our innovators, our DoD-funded research projects. But there's not enough oversight and action," said Jeff Stoff, a security academic and former China and national security analyst for the US government.
US officials warned that "sex warfare" went beyond casual flirtation, as some spies have even married targets in defense and tech sectors to gather information for the long term. One case the outlet reported was where a Russian woman married an American engineer and infiltrated crypto and defense circles.
