Question

Based on your reading of the 2011 Congressional Report which is eight years old, Foreign Spies Stealing US Economic Secrets in Cyberspace, what if anything has changed? What, if any, predictions or forecasts were contained in the report and how accurate were they?

Answer 1

China and Russia are using cyber espionage to steal U.S. trade and technology secrets to bolster their own economic development, which poses a threat to U.S. prosperity and security. According to the report, with little risk as attackers are difficult to detect, foreign intruders can collect massive information available on our networks and computer. Foreign intelligence services, corporations and individuals have increased their efforts to steal U.S. technologies which cost millions of dollars to develop.

U.S. intelligence officials say Chinese leaders believe the next decade is a window of strategic opportunity for their country. They want to catch up economically to the West. To do that, they need Western technology, because they don't have the same tradition of innovation that the U.S. has. They can demand that foreign companies that want to do business in China must first share their technology — or, the Chinese can simply steal it, largely through cyber means.

In the case of Russia, the intelligence report quotes President Vladimir Putin as saying that the Russian intelligence service should "more actively protect the economic interests of our companies abroad."

Hacker groups in China have carried out a series of computer intrusions against U.S. and foreign government computer networks, as well as those belonging to international groups, including human rights organizations, according to diplomatic cables obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. While the recent hacking of U.S election from Russia is clear indication of the presence of the cyber threat from their end.