China & Russia Aim for U.S. Secrets
As U.S. Spy Chief Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, prepares his testimony for Congress, he cites alarming information that Chinese and Russian intel operatives are targeting U.S. secrets.
AP quotes McConnell’s draft testimony . . .
“China and Russia’s foreign intelligence services are among the most aggressive in collecting against sensitive and protected U.S. systems, facilities and development projects, and their efforts are approaching Cold War levels,” McConnell says in his testimony. “Foreign intelligence information concerning the plans, activities and intentions of foreign powers and their agents is critical to protect the nation and preserve our security.”
While Sino-Russian spy missions grow, cyber attacks also become an ever increasing threat
Check out this report by Deutsche-Welle on the recent cyber attacks by China and Russia on NATO countries . . .
Twenty years ago, the concept of a country coming under attack not from land, air or sea but via telephone lines and communication systems was seen as science fiction. But today, when gaining access to a government Web site takes just a few mouse clicks, cyber-terrorism is a very real fact.
The alleged Russian attacks on Estonia’s digital infrastructure in the middle of a diplomatic spat over the relocation of a Soviet-era monument in May sent NATO experts to Tallinn to investigate what some called the first direct attack by Moscow on a NATO member. Confusion over whether an attack was actually happening, however, allowed NATO to avoid formulating a response to the suspected cyber attack.
Then Germany joined the United States, France and Britain last month in blaming China for recent hacker attacks on sensitive government sites, including the Pentagon and the French defense ministry.
