DOD Report: High-Tech U.S. Weapons Face Rising Espionage Threat

摘要

A new Pentagon report warns espionage targeting U.S. weapons and defense industry trade secrets is steadily rising, with spies in the Asia-Pacific region increasingly using cyber operations to steal electronics information and other methods to pilfer missile technology. Attempts by foreign collectors to obtain illegal or unauthorized access to sensitive or classified information and technology in the U.S. industrial base rose by 60 percent in fiscal year 2012 compared to the previous year, states the July 17 report from the Defense Security Service. FY-12 marked the first year that agents in a single region -- East Asia and the Pacific -- caused half of all reported incidents, up from 43 percent in FY-11. The Near East was the second-most active collector region, followed by South and Central Asia, and Europe and Eurasia.