Secretary of State John Kerry said “it is very likely” that his emails are being read by foreign cyberspies and that he purposely drafts correspondence under the assumption that his words are being watched.
“Unfortunately, we’re living in a world where a number of countries, China and Russia included, have consistently been engaged in cyberattacks against American interests, against American government,” Mr. Kerry told CBS News Tuesday, the likes of which he labeled a problem of “enormous concern.”
“It is very likely” his email is subject to some sort of nation-state surveillance, he said, “and I certainly write things with that awareness.”
International adversaries have long been accused of mounting cyber campaigns against high value targets in the U.S., but those assaults have ramped up in recent months, at least regarding scope.
A cyberattack against the Office of Personnel Management allowed hackers to breach a system with personal information of federal workers, and NBC News reported this week that leaked national security documents suggest Chinese cyberspies have been targeting the email accounts of top White House officials for the past half-decade.
“We are deeply involved in fighting back against this on a daily basis,” Mr. Kerry told CBS, adding that the U.S. invests billions in attempting to accomplish as much. “It has huge consequences, and we are trying to create a code of conduct and a system of behavior that hopefully could rein some of it in. But right now it’s pretty much the Wild West.”
Last year, Mike Rogers, who was wrapping up his tenure as House Intelligence Committee chair at the time, urged policymakers to adopt a framework that would allow the U.S. to counter cyberattacks with offensive campaigns of its own.
“The very fact that a nation state believes that they could [attack U.S. networks] without any problem or consequence is another very, very serious issue for us,” he told attendees at an event in D.C. in October.
“We are not prepared if the federal government decides that they want to take an offensive action or disruptive action in any significant way, even in response,” Mr. Rogers said.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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