Pharmaceutical, manufacturing and defense companies in the United States should expect stepped-up cyber spying efforts out of Russia and China, a report by the U.S. Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive warns. 

"Chinese actors are the world's most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage," the report said. "Russia's intelligence services are conducting a range of activities to collect economic information and technology from U.S. targets."

It is very hard to identify the origin of cyber espionage because the efforts often take place over a global web of computers, writes Jeremy Kirk of IDG News Service. Smartphones, laptops and other devices that increase the complexity of IT systems give online spies more ways to dig for information, the report notes. Chinese intelligence agencies often use individuals with inside access to corporate systems, who use removable media to copy trade secrets.

The report outlines ways in which companies can better protect themselves from this kind of espionage. Encryption, multifactor authentication and real-time network monitoring are among the recommendations.

For more, see:
- Jeremy Kirk's article at InfoWorld

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