U.S. Government: Chinese and Russian Spies are Infiltrating American Databases to Steal Trade Secrets

The U.S. Office of National Counterintelligence Executive has issued a report (linked above - please click on title to this post) suggesting that foreign spies, including from key U.S. allies, are increasingly using cyber-theft to access and appropriate secrets of the U.S. and economically important companies here. China and Russia were singled out as the most pervasive threats to economically sensitive secrets.

“The nations of China and Russia, through their intelligence services and through their corporations, are attacking our research and development,” Robert “Bear” Bryant, the national counterintelligence executive , said during a news conference discussing the report. He added that foreign industrial espionage is a “very serious problem facing the economic viability of the United States." Cyberespionage will continue to represent a major challenge to U.S. economic security, the report concluded. The proliferation of portable devices that connect to the internet and the trend of pooling information processing and storage will further enable such activities.

It is refreshing to read that the government, and cooperating and coordinating agencies in the federal government, is aware of risks and threats that we've been detailing in this blog for years. What is even more important, however, will be the government's counter-measures to fend off these cyber-threats and its role in working with private industry to accomplish joint prerogatives. This report makes a fascinating read.