Mail-order spies: Tech companies employ some of the most robust network security to protect against IP theft. However, no amount of network security protects against theft from within. While corporate espionage is largely digital these days, good old-fashioned infiltration is still in use. China and Russia increasingly use sexual honeypots to compromise employees and gain access to sensitive technology.
According to sources speaking with UK newspaper The Times, foreign operatives from China and Russia are increasingly using "sex warfare" to target American tech professionals. The tactic involves sending attractive women to seduce employees, gain access to trade secrets, and sometimes even marry and have children with their targets.
Pamir Consulting Chief Intelligence Officer James Mulvenon notes that foreign operatives have recently targeted him with multiple LinkedIn requests from young Chinese women.
"I'm getting an enormous number of very sophisticated LinkedIn requests from the same type of attractive young Chinese woman," Mulvenon said.
It didn't take long for the memes to start rolling in.
"China are sending spies to seduce tech workers and steal Silicon Valley secrets" - The Times
– Wall Street Memes (@wallstmemes) October 23, 2025
Also, Larry Ellisons wife since 2023: pic.twitter.com/JmlQLWVdN9
And it didn't stop with Ellison.
Every billionaire's final startup: marriage to an Asian woman pic.twitter.com/C7vpnbZyK9
– Ma Qing (@mqnyc_sf) October 23, 2025
At a recent Pamir conference on Chinese investment risks in Virginia, Mulvenon said two Chinese women attempted to gain entry without presenting invitations. Security turned them away, but he said they came prepared with all the information about the event.
Mulvenon called the espionage tactic "weird" and warned that sexual honeypots are a serious vulnerability because Americans don't employ such measures. By statute and culture, US intelligence and corporations are prohibited from using sexual entrapment, leaving the country at an asymmetric disadvantage against nations that do.
Counterintelligence experts say the strategy is part of a broader effort by China and Russia to exploit the US tech sector. Their campaign includes hosting startup competitions on American soil, sabotaging companies, and using ordinary citizens – investors, academics, and analysts – rather than trained agents. One former counterintelligence officer described a Russian operative who married a US aerospace employee while running a long-term intelligence operation as part of this campaign.
"Showing up, marrying a target, having kids with a target – and conducting a lifelong collection operation, it's very uncomfortable to think about but it's so prevalent," the official said.
The financial stakes are high. Experts estimate that China's theft of trade secrets costs the US up to $600 billion annually. A recent case illustrates the threat. Klaus Pflugbeil, a former employee of a Tesla-acquired Canadian company, tried to sell stolen Tesla battery technology at a Las Vegas trade conference. He was sentenced to prison in 2024, while an alleged accomplice remains at large.
The National Counterintelligence and Security Center has warned startups to exercise caution at international pitch competitions backed by Chinese investors. These events often require participants to share intellectual property and personal information, creating opportunities for espionage.
Mulvenon highlighted a subtler tactic: foreign venture capitalists investing in US startups that receive Department of Defense funding. By taking ownership stakes, they can restrict further government investment while gaining access to critical intellectual property and early-stage innovations. Experts say much of this activity operates in legal gray areas, exploiting regulatory and cultural gaps.
"It's the Wild West out there," Jeff Stoff, a former US national security analyst, told The Times. "China is targeting our startups, our academic institutions, our innovators, our DoD-funded research projects. But there's not enough oversight and action."
Seduction is the new spyware: US tech startups are now the target of "sex warfare"
