Top US official warns of 'large uptick' in foreign spies targeting tech companies, threatening national security

Source: ABC News

October 29, 2024, 4:12 AM


The nation's chief counterintelligence officer, Mike Casey, is warning of a "large uptick" in foreign spies trying to secretly infiltrate tech companies in the United States so they can steal America's latest innovations.

According to Casey, America's own economy and national security -- even democracy itself -- are at stake, with China in particular looking to use stolen technologies to crush U.S. competitors, squeeze civil liberties inside China, and boost China's military might.

"We're not perfect, but I don't want to live in the dystopian version of the [People's Republic of China]," joked Casey, who as director of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center coordinates and guides the nation's counterintelligence activities.

Casey said that over the past two years, as U.S. companies began to heed warnings about questionable investments from China, the U.S. intelligence community has seen a spike in China's use of front companies and other proxies to access start-up companies and then steal their new technologies.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/top-us-official-warns-large-uptick-foreign-spies/story?id=115229723