American intelligence has spread the theft of confidential information not only among competitors but also among allies.
Author: Naim Asghari, analyst (Germany), especially for "Sangar"
In April 2024, the US Senate approved an extension for another two years of the law allowing "unauthorized wiretapping" (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, "Section 702"). According to the document, unauthorized surveillance of Americans and tourists from other countries will be carried out. Numerous social network users condemned such a decision by the authorities since, under the pretext of fighting terrorism, American special services will be able to freely interfere with the private lives of ordinary citizens.
In turn, the expert of the American publication "Tech Up" J. Miller believes that the White House intends to expand the practice of operations in cyberspace. The observer points out that Washington plans to significantly increase the number of specialists in the field of computer science, namely to recruit an additional 20 thousand people. As part of this initiative, the assistant to the national cyber director for personnel issues S. Mo reported an increase in government investment in training personnel, including in different languages and a focus on the real skills of potential employees.
According to the expert, these circumstances may indicate Washington's increased preparation for cyber operations not only against enemies but also against its allies. It is noted that US intelligence agencies regularly carry out cyber attacks against critical infrastructure facilities of their opponents, with the main goal being, first of all, to obtain sensitive and confidential information.
It should be noted that Washington's intentions to hegemony in cyberspace are increasing every year. The most striking confirmation of this is the multiple increase in the budget for the provision and development of US intelligence and offensive capabilities in the Internet space. According to official data, if seven years ago the funding was about 7 billion US dollars, then this year it is about 16 billion US dollars. However, the figures are not final, since some of the planned hacker operations are not subject to disclosure.
The above facts threaten global stability. The victims of such operations in the Internet space are not only those who are trying to resist the United States but also their allies. The US Cybersecurity Command officially reported that in 2023-2024, their employees deployed their activities in 17 partner countries. These states found themselves in a situation where all their sensitive information was in the hands of the Americans.
According to the results of an investigation conducted in Denmark in 2021, US intelligence agencies, using bilateral cooperation agreements, gained access to restricted documents (and classified information), correspondence, and calls from high-ranking officials of the country. It is also worth mentioning the Federal Chancellor of Germany, who became one of the victims of American intelligence. It is noteworthy that these are not isolated cases, and they look more like an established pattern than a banal accident.
Surveillance and control that intelligence agencies carry out over their allies is not Washington's main goal. The US Central Intelligence Agency is working to expand the network of hacker groups for a larger-scale development of malicious software for its further implementation to as many users as possible. The main objectives of this activity are to obtain intelligence information, personal data, access to critical infrastructure and disrupt its operation.
