Dating already requires figuring out whether someone is married, emotionally available or using photos from the Obama administration. Apparently, we’re adding “working for a foreign intelligence service” to the intake form.
Nvidia’s board is investigating whether co-founder Jensen Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation after he acknowledged an affair amid reports linking him to an alleged Chinese intelligence asset. The Justice Department said Thursday it has not reached a conclusion on whether the woman, Alice Huang, was a Chinese spy.
According to Business Insider, the allegations have executives confronting a dating question that makes “What are we?” sound positively relaxing: Is this chemistry, or am I being professionally handled?
Alice Huang, a former executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed, is not related to Jensen Huang. Chinese officials have denied the espionage allegations. Nvidia’s board previously said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised, CNBC reported.
So how does someone distinguish a promising new romance from an intelligence operation with excellent dinner reservations? Business Insider asked three security experts.
The reassuring news: Documented cases involving major corporate leaders are rare. The less reassuring news: A competent operative is unlikely to put “espionage” under “My simple pleasures.”
Your meet-cute may have a project manager
The honeypot is an old spycraft tactic. But according to Will Geddes, founder of London-based threat-management firm International Corporate Protection Group, the most effective operations don’t necessarily begin with a beautiful stranger sliding onto the next barstool.
They can begin months earlier, with someone studying a target’s travel, routines, hobbies and vulnerabilities, including isolation or marital trouble. Then comes the seemingly spontaneous introduction at a conference, work event or through a trusted acquaintance.
You thought the universe brought you together. The universe may have had a spreadsheet.
Eric O’Neill, a former FBI counterintelligence operative who helped catch Russian spy Robert Hanssen, told Business Insider that skilled intelligence officers tend to resemble exactly the person their target hopes to meet.
Which is inconvenient. “They’re everything I’ve been looking for” is usually the part you tell your friends while ignoring their follow-up questions.
They’re hot, interested and moving very fast
Geddes flagged a new partner who is unusually attractive, initiates contact or accelerates intimacy faster than expected.
Before anyone reports a hot person for texting back, none of those things alone establishes malicious intent. Attractive people are allowed to fancy you. Occasionally, even without an ulterior motive.
The concern is the combination of behaviors and the broader context, Geddes said. O’Neill suggested considering who initiated contact and how quickly the relationship developed.
There is “we just clicked,” and then there is wondering how someone became your emergency contact before you learned their last name.
They’ve booked the restaurant. And the next one. And the hotel.
Someone repeatedly controlling where and when you meet can also warrant attention, Geddes told Business Insider.
Yes, a date who actually makes a reservation is a powerful aphrodisiac. Especially after years of “idk, whatever you want.”
But the experts’ concern is a pattern in which one person consistently dictates the location and timing. The restaurant, the bar, the hotel: Everything happens on their terms.
Enjoy initiative. Retain voting rights.
The pillow talk keeps circling back to your employer
O’Neill also flagged requests for introductions, access or unusual favors, as well as a partner who knows a lot about your business, finances and travel.
An interest in your life is lovely. An interest in your company’s confidential plans deserves a different kind of attention.
“How was work?” is normal. A series of increasingly specific questions about information you are not supposed to share is less “supportive partner,” more “this meeting should have included legal.”
The same goes for favors. Meeting your friends is one thing. Treating your professional network like a tasting menu is another.
Do a little homework before giving them the Wi-Fi password
O’Neill’s practical advice is to verify a new partner’s identity and background before bringing them deeply into your home, private life or professional circle.
Keep personal and corporate devices and accounts separate. Use multifactor authentication.
Admittedly, “I’ve enabled multifactor authentication” lacks the erotic charge of “I booked us a weekend away.” It does, however, offer benefits that extend beyond checkout.
The challenge is getting powerful people to accept scrutiny of their private lives. Fred Burton, a former U.S. Diplomatic Security Service special agent, told Business Insider that background checks on people close to a CEO are rarely conducted unless requested. When checks do happen, they often concern household staff rather than romantic partners.
Apparently, the person watering the plants may face more vetting than the person sleeping upstairs.
If something feels off, get help before it becomes leverage
Burton said documented cases of major corporate leaders falling for foreign operatives are rare, though the tactics are well established.
The takeaway is proportionate caution, particularly when someone is seeking access to information, people or places through a romantic relationship.
And if you suspect something is wrong, O’Neill advised seeking help before embarrassment becomes leverage.
Nobody wants to explain a disastrous relationship to their friends. Explaining it to a counterintelligence investigator sounds considerably worse.
You can recover from a bad date. Ideally, without an incident-response team.