Russia and China pose the biggest espionage and cyber attack threats to the United States and are more aligned than they have been in decades, the leader of the US intelligence community has told US senators.
While the two countries seek to expand their global reach, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said, some American allies were pulling away from Washington in reaction to changing US policies on security and trade.
"China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea increasingly use cyber operations to threaten both minds and machines in an expanding number of ways - to steal information, to influence our citizens, or to disrupt critical infrastructure," Coats told the Senate intelligence committee's annual hearing on worldwide threats.
"Moscow's relationship with Beijing is closer than it's been in many decades."
Appearing on Tuesday with the director of the CIA, FBI and other top intelligence officials, Coats also said some US allies were seeking more independence, responding to their perceptions of changing policies on security and trade and "are becoming more open" to new partnerships.
Coats also said US adversaries likely are already looking to interfere in the 2020 US election, refining their capabilities and adding new tactics.
He said Russia's social media efforts would continue to focus on aggravating social and racial tensions, undermining trust in authorities and criticising politicians perceived to be anti-Russia.
Senator Mark Warner, the panel's top Democrat, said in his opening statement he was particularly concerned about Russia's use of social media "to amplify divisions in our society and to influence our democratic processes" and the threat from China in the technology arena.
The United States on Monday announced criminal charges against China's Huawei Technologies and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, escalating a fight with the world's biggest telecommunications equipment maker and coming days before trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
"Especially concerning have been the efforts of big Chinese tech companies, which are beholden to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), to acquire sensitive technology, replicate it and undermine the market share of US firms with the help of the Chinese state," Warner said.
Share
