Cyber espionage threats from foreign governments, reports say

The head of Britain’s domestic spy service said on Monday in a rare public speech that the West is now facing an “astonishing” cyber espionage threat on an “industrial scale” from specific nation states. “The extent of what is going on is astonishing,” said Jonathan Evans, director general of M15, “with industrial-scale processes involving many thousands of people lying behind both state-sponsored cyber espionage and organized cyber crime.”

The United Kingdom, the United States, and several European allies reportedly have a vigorous discussion underway on how to counter cyber espionage by possibly the most significant state operator, China. Evan’s speech comes just one month before the 2012 Summer Olympic Games make way in London. “The Games present an attractive target for our enemies and they will be at the centre of the world’s attention in a month or so,” Evans said. “No doubt some terrorist networks have thought about whether they could pull off an attack.”