China is stepping up efforts to hack the critical coronavirus research conducted by American universities and laboratories in the private sector because the information is not classified and federal authorities can’t do anything to protect it, national security experts and legislators told Newsweek.
As a result, China is actively “trying to exploit” the gap between federally protected information and what’s produced in the public realm, retired FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Intelligence and Counterintelligence Scott Olson told Newsweek.
“The Chinese want to be in these centers of development and innovation because if something new is created and it’s not covered by a classification or other restriction law, they can take it and remove it from the U.S.,” Olson, who now leads his own consulting firm, told Newsweek. “The bottom line is federal agencies in the executive branch can only act if authorized by statute.”
