US says China, Russia active in cyber espionage

China and Russia are using cyber espionage to steal US trade and technology secrets to bolster their own economic development, an intelligence report said on Thursday.

The report, titled "Foreign Spies Stealing US Economic Secrets in Cyberspace," also said that it is posing a threat to US prosperity and security, Reuter reported.

So much sensitive information and research is on computer networks that foreign intruders can collect massive amounts of data quickly and with little risk because they are difficult to detect.

The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive report for 2009-2011 included input from intelligence agencies, the private sector, think tanks and academia.

Foreign intelligence services, corporations and individuals increased their efforts to steal US technologies which cost millions of dollars to develop, the report said.

Methods included extracting information remotely from their home base, downloading data to a portable device, and transmitting information by email.

Years ago, "spies were taking out information by file folders, today they're taken out in thumb drives," a senior US intelligence official said.

"Our research and development is under attack," he said.

Intelligence services, private companies, academic institutions and citizens of dozens of countries target the United States, the report said. But it only named China and Russia.

"Chinese actors are the world's most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage," the report said.

While US companies have reported cyber intrusions that originated in China, the intelligence agencies cannot confirm who is behind them, the report said.

When pressed about what undeniable evidence the United States has that China is conducting cyber espionage, the intelligence official declined to discuss details publicly. "We didn't pull this out of the air," he said.