Washington: US spy services conducted 231 "offensive cyber operations" in 2011, mostly targeting Iran, Russia, China and North Korea, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.
The revelation is based on a classified intelligence budget provided to the paper by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden, as well as on interviews with former US officials.
The Post also reported that, under a $652 million project code-named "GENIE," US specialists hack foreign computer networks to secretly put them under American control.
That compares to just over 21,200 in 2008, the Post reported, citing the intelligence budget.
Of the 231 "offensive operations" conducted in 2011, nearly 75 percent were against top-priority targets that the Post, citing former officials, said included "adversaries such as Iran, Russia, China and North Korea and activities such as nuclear non-proliferation."
However, while an unnamed National Security Agency spokesman confirmed to the Post that the Defense Department does engage in computer network exploitation, the paper also quoted him as saying that, unlike China, "the department does ***not*** engage in economic
espionage in any domain, including cyber."
He is wanted by Washington on espionage charges linked to media disclosures about US surveillance programs.
The revelation is based on a classified intelligence budget provided to the paper by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden, as well as on interviews with former US officials.
The Post also reported that, under a $652 million project code-named "GENIE," US specialists hack foreign computer networks to secretly put them under American control.
That compares to just over 21,200 in 2008, the Post reported, citing the intelligence budget.
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Of the 231 "offensive operations" conducted in 2011, nearly 75 percent were against top-priority targets that the Post, citing former officials, said included "adversaries such as Iran, Russia, China and North Korea and activities such as nuclear non-proliferation."
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However, while an unnamed National Security Agency spokesman confirmed to the Post that the Defense Department does engage in computer network exploitation, the paper also quoted him as saying that, unlike China, "the department does ***not*** engage in economic
espionage in any domain, including cyber."
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He is wanted by Washington on espionage charges linked to media disclosures about US surveillance programs.
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