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U.S Intelligence underscores fundamental Russian challenges to US interests

18 February 2009 11:06 (UTC +04:00)

"We’re seeing â€¦ a dramatic, consistent increase in cyber crime (and) intelligence activities."
The government does not publicly detail the number or types of attacks that succeed. A commission of government officials and private experts reported in December that the departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security and Commerce all have suffered "major intrusions" in which sensitive data were stolen or compromised.
Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told Congress last week that government networks are targeted by foreign nations seeking intelligence, such as China and Russia, as well as criminal groups and individuals who may want to disrupt power, communication or financial systems.
The Annual Threat Assessment of US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair underscores fundamental Russian challenges to US interests. In his testimony last Thursday at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Blair pointed out that Russia was exploiting US overstretch in Iraq and Afghanistan to challenge the US-led international political and economic institutional order; Russia continues to rely on its nuclear deterrent and retaliatory capability against the US; Russia is constantly signaling its political resurgence and reminding the US of its global military relevance; and Russia’s neighborhood policies could generate potential flashpoints.
The five post-Soviet Central Asian states have "highly-personalized politics, weak institutions, and growing inequalities [and] are ill-equipped to deal with the challenges posed by Islamic violent extremism, poor economic development, and problems associated with energy, water, and food distribution," said Admiral Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence. Blair testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on February 12, giving the intelligence committeeâ€™s annual threat assessment report to Congress.