FAS

DSS Views Foreign Collection of U.S. Technology

01.03.07 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

Foreign efforts to gather information on defense-related U.S. technologies are characterized in a 2006 report (pdf) by the Defense Security Service (DSS) Counterintelligence Office.

“In 2005, DSS identified 106 countries associated with suspicious activities based on U.S. cleared defense industry reporting, up from 90 countries in 2004.”

Information systems, lasers, sensors and aeronautics were among the technology areas most frequently targeted by foreign intelligence.

The unclassified DSS report is posted on the DSS web site, but is password-protected to block public access. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News.

See “Technology Collection Trends in the U.S. Defense Industry,” Defense Security Service, June 2006 (33 pages, 2.5 MB PDF).

The report was first reported by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times today. See his “Foreign spy activity surges to fill technology gap.”