Got contacted by the Finnish security services

Heh. I'm a tenured professor (physics) and a research scientist. Our nanoscience/nanotech lab collaborates with a lot with Russian and Chinese researchers and there's a lot of researcher mobility in and out of Finland. Nothing wrong with it. They're nice guys and girls and very professional scientists.

The funny thing is that today I got a call from the Finnish security services (Suojelupoliisi) [link to www.poliisi.fi (secure)]

The guy on the phone explained to me that he just wants to remind me that Russians and Chinese conduct a lot of industrial espionage by using scientists who visit Finland. He also said that we should careful what kind of information we share with them. "If you have anything you want to discuss with us at any point of time, you should know that we have a branch office in your city. If you have anything to report or you have any concerns, you can always book a meeting with us. You can call us, of course, at this number.".

I wonder if it was a hint that they know something about our collaborators and regular visitors or was it just as courtesy call?

Then again, I don't take them that seriously. Recently, they were forced to make an internal evaluation by hiring ex-MI5/6 officers to review their tradecraft and publish the results. The results were horrible. I can remember comments like "Borderline amateur" and "Puny". :)