Officials: China, Russia Using Hacked Data to Target US Spies

Local Editor

Foreign spy services, especially in China and Russia, are aggressively aggregating and cross-indexing hacked US computer databases - including security clearance applications, airline records and medical insurance forms - to identify US intelligence officers and agents, US officials said.

According to two US officials, at least one clandestine network of American engineers and scientists who provide technical assistance to US undercover operatives and agents overseas has been compromised as a result.

Counter-intelligence officials say their adversaries combine those immense data files and then employ sophisticated software to try to isolate disparate clues that can be used to identify and track - or worse, blackmail and recruit - US intelligence operatives.

Furthermore, other US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments, say China and Russia are collecting and scrutinizing sensitive US computer files for counterintelligence purposes.

The Anthem breach, which involved personal data on 80 million current and former customers and employees, used malicious software that American officials say was linked to the Chinese government.

However, the information had not appeared for sale on black market websites, indicating that a foreign government controls it.

US officials had not publicly blamed Beijing for the theft of the OPM and the Anthem files, but privately say both hacks were traced to the Chinese government.

In a similar fashion, officials say, Russia's powerful Federal Security Service, or FSB, has close connections to programmers and criminal hacking rings in Russia and has used them in a relentless series of cyberattacks.

According to US officials, Russian hackers linked to the Kremlin infiltrated the State Department's unclassified email system for several months last fall.

Russian hackers also stole gigabytes of customer data from several US banks and financial companies, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., last year.

A Chinese Embassy spokesman, Zhu Haiquan, said Friday that his government "firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with the law."

Nonetheless, the Russian Embassy did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Source: LA Times, Edited by website team