USA's new strategy report adds Cuba, Hezbollah, Islamic State and Al-Qaeda as groups able to undertake intelligence operations against the country.
The
US
counter-spy agency has said that cyber and surveillance technology
advances have multiplied the intelligence threat to the country,
putting hacktivists and online manipulators on a par with venerable
foe Russia.
The
biennial National Counterintelligence Strategy on Monday for the
first time singled out anti-secrecy organizations, independent
hackers and Islamic extremist groups as espionage threats requiring
close attention.
"The
United States is facing increasingly aggressive and complex threats
from foreign
intelligence services, as well as state and non-state actors,"
said William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence
and Security Center, which issued the report. Previous editions of
the report singled out Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, along
with transnational crime groups, as the central spying threats to the
United States.
The
new strategy report adds Cuba, Hezbollah, Islamic State and Al-Qaeda
as groups able to undertake intelligence operations against the
country. In addition, it lists "ideologically motivated entities
such as hacktivists, leaktivists, and public disclosure
organizations," and foreigners with no formal organizational
affinity who also conspire to steal sensitive data and intellectual
property.
While
the report did not mention the group by name, it was clear that
WikiLeaks, which has published a huge amount of stolen US secrets as
well as top secret CIA hacking tools, contributed to the shift in
threat perception. The rapid spread of advanced but still cheap
technology for hacking and surveillance has made it possible for
anyone to pose a threat, the report said.
It
pointed to the widespread availability of technologies with
intelligence applications like biometric devices, unmanned systems,
high resolution imagery, enhanced surveillance equipment, encryption,
artificial intelligence, and advance hacking tools.
"Foreign
threat actors have become more dangerous because, with ready access
to advanced technology, they are threatening a broader range of
targets at lower risk," it said.
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