The United States is confronting threats from foreign adversaries on many fronts amid growing geopolitical tensions, a new counterintelligence strategy warns.
“Our nation is facing significant and complex threats from aggressive and capable foreign intelligence adversaries—including Russia, the People’s Republic of China, Iran, and North Korea,” President Joe Biden said, as he signed the National Counterintelligence Strategy on Aug. 1.
The newly approved strategy outlines intelligence goals to deal with growing foreign intelligence threats and provides direction to the counterintelligence community for the next three years.
The strategy says the Chinese communist regime and the state of Russia pose “the most significant intelligence threats.” These leading adversaries are working together more frequently, amplifying the threats to the United States.
“An expanding array of actors are attempting to steal national secrets, sensitive data, intellectual property, and technical and military capabilities, and undermine and disrupt U.S. foreign policy and intelligence operations,” it warns.
“[Foreign intelligence entities] are positioning themselves to compromise or damage infrastructure critical to U.S. health, safety, and economic activity, and are attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and undermine our democracy.”
The document noted that foreign intelligence adversaries attempt to obtain information from almost all levels of U.S. government entities, including federal departments and agencies as well as local and state governments. They also target commercial firms, defense contractors, think tanks, and academic institutions.
These adversaries seek both classified and publicly available information to support their political, economic, military, and influence goals, as well as “their attempts to target U.S. persons, supply chains, and critical infrastructure,” the strategy states.
In addition, foreign intelligence actors view commercial entities as having an important role in helping with espionage efforts. Besides using cutting-edge technology, these actors employ high-quality cyber intrusion tools from commercial firms to assist with their cyber attacks.
The strategy has raised great concerns over threats of foreign economic and industrial espionage to U.S. critical technology and economic security, particularly from the Chinese communist regime. It warned that foreign intelligence adversaries are looking to “use cyber espionage, embedded researchers, and front companies and investments to target innovative U.S. firms and research institutions, seeking a shortcut to build their own countries’ economic and technological bases, and make their firms more competitive against U.S. rivals.”
According to the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), the strategy’s mission is to “identify, understand, and neutralize foreign intelligence threats and protect U.S. interests, assets, and people at home and abroad from espionage, sabotage, assassination, or other foreign intelligence activities or operations.”
The strategy aims “to outmaneuver and constrain foreign intelligence entities, protect America’s strategic advantages, and invest in the future to meet tomorrow’s threats,” NCSC Director Michael Casey said.
