Look around you now. Chances are that a lot of the stuff surrounding you was originally made in some factory located in China. According to the Russian press, these items could possibly have been designed to spy on you as you're read this (even the computer!)



That's the weird thing that happened in St. Petersburg last week, when Russian authorities intercepted a shipment from China that contained home appliances that they say were implanted with "spy" microchips. Most of the chips were found in tea kettles, and were designed for spreading malware to wi-fi enabled devices within 200 meters.

It's unclear if the chips were indeed installed by the Chinese, or possibly even by cyber criminals during the shipment's route to Russia. Plus, how did Russian authorities know where to look for the contraband in the first place?

But the ultimate question would have to be why on Earth was somebody sending appliances implanted with spy chips to St. Petersburg? If you ask us, this is a job that only the likes of James Bond can solve.

[Register, BBC]