Podcast Summary: "The Rest Is Classified"

Episode 105: The Chinese Spy Scandal – Mastering LinkedIn (Ep 2)

Release Date: December 3, 2025
Hosts: David McCloskey (former CIA analyst, spy novelist), Gordon Corera (security correspondent)

Episode Overview

This episode continues the exploration of how modern espionage, particularly by Chinese intelligence services, leverages digital platforms like LinkedIn to target and recruit Western officials. Through the real-life story of former CIA officer Kevin Mallory, hosts David and Gordon dissect how online approaches can evolve into full-scale spy operations, the distinctiveness of Chinese intelligence tradecraft, and the broader implications for Western societies.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Digital Espionage: LinkedIn as a Recruiting Platform

• LinkedIn’s Role: Hosts revisit how Chinese intelligence services use LinkedIn to identify and initiate contact with potential assets, blending digital outreach with traditional human intelligence methods.

• Case Study Introduction: The focus is on Kevin Mallory, a former CIA officer recruited via LinkedIn, illustrating the process from digital approach to in-person recruitment.

  "LinkedIn was being used by Chinese intelligence officers. It's kind of this digital platform that allows you to start a relationship with someone and then follow that through to a more traditional in person recruitment."
  — David [02:47]

2. The Biography of Kevin Mallory (04:11–07:20)

• Professional Background: Mallory’s trajectory from BYU graduate, U.S. military, Diplomatic Security Service, CIA case officer (China specialist, fluent Mandarin), to Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), then back to the CIA as a contractor.

• Financial Trouble: At the time of the Chinese approach, Mallory was struggling financially, making him vulnerable.

• Consultancy Setup: After losing his clearance in 2012, Mallory started a consultancy, "Global X LLC"—a classic move for ex-intel officers, according to David.

  "All these former...case officers who start consultancies, they all have a name that is as anodyne as Global X."
  — David [06:46]

3. Mallory’s Recruitment & Tradecraft (07:20–16:25)

• Initial Approach: Reached on LinkedIn by a supposed 'headhunter' offering consulting in China; referred to "Michael Yang" of a Shanghai think tank (actually an MSS front).

• Cover Stories & Doubt: Plausible deniability in using think tanks as fronts aids recruitment by muddying lines between legitimate and illicit motives.

  • "There's enough cover here that he could maybe convince himself that it's all above board." — David [08:24]

• Escalation:

  • Video call discussing sensitive topics.
  • In-person meeting in Shanghai, cautious tradecraft instructions for receiving a phone.
  • Provided with a covert Samsung phone for encrypted messaging upon his second trip.

• Alibi Construction: On his return to the U.S., Mallory gave a suspiciously specific, implausible reason for his trip: consulting work on "anti-bullying, family safety development."

  "That is an obscure piece of...alibi. That is, it is maybe too specific."
  — David [13:37]

• Suspicious Actions: Scanning/shredding documents at FedEx, possession of undeclared cash, and receiving payments from Yang.

4. From Espionage to Panic (16:25–22:12)

• Operational Details: Mallory scanned and sent sensitive materials (including PowerPoint notes with Top Secret info) to Yang and kept more documents stashed at home.
• Panic & Attempted Cover: After a customs stop, Mallory reached out to a CIA contact, seemingly to get ahead of any investigation or perhaps initiate a double agent scenario.

  "He seems like he's almost gonna try to spin it, like he's being useful to the Agency in some way."
  — David [18:12]

• Frantic Messaging: Contacted former colleagues and met with a CIA investigator, downplaying his involvement and claiming only unclassified white papers were passed.

5. The Fatal Mistake: The CovCom Phone (26:06–29:53)

• Discovery: While demonstrating the "secure" messaging mode to FBI agents (the "Phoebes"), the entire incriminating chat history reappears.

  "He appears very visibly surprised...when the whole chat history with Yang turns up, including what he thought were the secure messages..."
  — Gordon [26:21]

• Incriminating Content: Discussions about bringing further documents, payment arrangements, destruction of evidence.

  "In the future, I will destroy all electronic records after you confirm receipt. I've already destroyed the paper records. I cannot keep these around. Too dangerous."
  — Gordon [29:33]

• Additional Evidence: FedEx surveillance, hidden SD card at home, recorded jail calls asking to find said card.

  "He's doing a lot of the document scanning and destruction in full view of cameras inside the FedEx store..."
  — David [30:39]

6. Arrest, Prosecution, and Aftermath (29:53–32:39)

• FBI Raid: Dramatic arrest at Mallory's home; ample evidence from both physical and digital sources.
• Outcome: May 2019, Mallory is sentenced to 20 years under the Espionage Act.

7. Wider Context: Is Chinese Espionage Different? (32:39–41:30)

• Not Just the U.S.: Similar recruitment tactics (consulting offers) seen in Parliament/industrial espionage.

• Chinese Perspective: Even MSS claims MI6 uses similar tactics, illustrating the universal nature of certain spy methods.

• Scale and Strategy: Both hosts discuss how Chinese espionage is different—not just in method, but in scale and target scope (covering not only government but economic, commercial, technological, and cultural domains).

  "The scale is totally different. It's totally different...the Chinese can throw so many resources at this point...It's not the same."
  — David [34:10]

• Rules and Morality: Who defines "acceptable" espionage? Western services would do similar to Chinese officials, but China's industrial/economic focus and the sheer scale makes it distinct.

• Structural Challenge: China’s closed system vs. the West’s open societies constraints reciprocity and intensifies asymmetries in intelligence-gathering potential.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On LinkedIn’s Dangers:

  "If you're being paid $25,000 for anti anti bullying consulting, you might, then you...might, something else might be going on."
  — David [42:27]

• On Tradecraft Fumbles:

  "He wanted to come semi clean. Now he's been cleaned out by the phone."
  — Gordon [28:08]

• On the “Everybody Spies” Argument:

  "It's true. And at its heart, though, it's completely misleading because of, I guess, a couple things. The scale is totally different...the Chinese are spying differently and at a greater scale than everyone else."
  — David [34:10]

• On Open vs. Closed Societies:

  "When you think about the ways that Chinese intelligence agencies, state owned enterprises...can get access to our ip...all over the west. The way you do that is because we have a very open system and it's, it's, it's not reciprocal."
  — David [41:00]

• Advice for Professionals:

  "If we have one message from this two part series, I think it's: think before you link when you get that request. Think carefully, however tempting it may seem."
  — Gordon [42:10]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:47] – Introduction: LinkedIn and modern espionage
• [04:11] – Kevin Mallory’s background and vulnerabilities
• [07:20] – Recruitment process, think tank cover, tradecraft
• [10:58] – Espionage operational details, financial inducements
• [16:25] – Scanned/shredded documents, covert communications
• [18:12] – Mallory’s attempted cover, outreach to CIA
• [26:06] – The fatal error: covcom phone reveals all
• [29:53] – Arrest, evidence, and courtroom drama
• [32:39] – Broader context: is Chinese espionage unique?
• [34:10] – Scale and open society vulnerabilities
• [41:30] – Closing thoughts: risk awareness, “think before you link”

Summary

This episode effectively illustrates how the seemingly innocuous world of professional networking can be weaponized for espionage, with LinkedIn serving as a gateway for intelligence services like China’s MSS. Through the episode-long case study of Kevin Mallory, David and Gordon bring to life the mechanics of recruitment, tradecraft blunders, and the consequences of complacency or naivety. The conversation moves from individual culpability and procedural missteps to the macro-level challenges Western societies face in countering state-backed human intelligence operations in the digital age. The episode’s tone is witty, sharp, and full of inside banter—making a serious subject both chilling and darkly entertaining. The ultimate takeaway: vigilance and skepticism are essential in an era where a LinkedIn message can be the first step down a slippery, dangerous slope.