“Traditional espionage—career foreign agents acting as diplomats or ordinary citizens—and asymmetric espionage—typically carried out by students, researchers, or businesspeople operating front companies—are prevalent”, warns Comey.
The Director of the FBI issued the following statement before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies:
“Our nation faces a continuing threat, both traditional and asymmetric, from hostile foreign intelligence agencies. Traditional espionage—career foreign agents acting as diplomats or ordinary citizens—and asymmetric espionage—typically carried out by students, researchers, or businesspeople operating front companies—are prevalent. And they seek not only state and military secrets, but also commercial trade secrets, research and development, and intellectual property, as well as insider information from the federal government, U.S. corporations, and American universities. Foreign intelligence services continue to employ more creative and more sophisticated methods to steal innovative technology, critical research and development data, and intellectual property, in an effort to erode America’s economic leading edge.
These illicit activities pose a significant threat to national security.
We also remain focused on the growing scope of the insider threat—that is, when trusted employees and contractors use their legitimate access to steal secrets for personal benefit or to benefit another company or country. This threat has been exacerbated in recent years as businesses have become more global and increasingly exposed to foreign intelligence organizations.
To combat this threat, we are working with academic and business partners to protect against economic espionage. We also work with the defense industry, academic institutions, and the general public to address the increased targeting of unclassified trade secrets across all American industries and sectors.”
Source: Congressional Record
See video: Foreign Spies Growing in Number on US Campuses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpdzYQxPEqc
See related video: Espionage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvqojPY8Qo4