CIA chief: Intel leaks on the rise

CIA Director Mike Pompeo says he thinks disclosure of America's secret intelligence is on the rise, fuelled partly by the "worship" of leakers like Edward Snowden.

"In some ways, I do think it's accelerated," Pompeo told MSNBC in an interview that aired on Saturday.

"I think there is a phenomenon, the worship of Edward Snowden, and those who steal American secrets for the purpose of self-aggrandisement or money or for whatever their motivation may be, does seem to be on the increase."

Pompeo said the US needs to redouble its efforts to stem leaks of classified information.

"It's tough. You now have not only nation states trying to steal our stuff, but non-state, hostile intelligence services, well-funded - folks like WikiLeaks, out there trying to steal American secrets for the sole purpose of undermining the United States and democracy," Pompeo said.

Besides Snowden, who leaked documents revealing extensive US government surveillance, WikiLeaks recently released nearly 8,000 documents that it says reveal secrets about the CIA's cyber espionage tools for breaking into computers. WikiLeaks previously published 250,000 State Department cables and embarrassed the US military with hundreds of thousands of logs from Iraq and Afghanistan.