BEIJING: Facts have proven once again that the United States is the largest state actor of spying in cyberspace, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said as he urged the US to clarify its intentions for doing so. Reports have emerged that from the Cold War into the 2000s, US intelligence used the Swiss company Crypto AG’s encoding devices to spy on other countries while pocketing millions of dollars. The company sold the devices to foreign governments and companies, and the machines were encrypted, but US intelligence had rigged the devices so they could crack the codes and intercept thousands of messages from more than 120 governments worldwide, according to reports. “Facts have proven once again that as the largest state actor of spying in cyberspace, the US is worthy of the name of the ‘empire of hackers.’ The sky is the limit with the US when it comes to spying,” said Geng. The spokesman called on the US to clarify the issue to the international community, noting that an explanation concerning the WikiLeaks and Snowden incidents is still owed.

Source: Manila Times February 18, 2020 21:22 UTC