Two people familiar with the probe told
the Financial Times on Tuesday that the law
enforcement agency was looking into the
interception of sensitive emails from
members and staffers of the
US-China Economic and
Security Review Commission. The FBI
declined to comment.
Excerpts from several emails were posted on
the internet this week by an Indian hacking
group. They were contained in what the group
said was a memo from an Indian military
intelligence command that the hackers claimed
to have penetrated.
One person familiar with the US probe
said the emails were genuine. But he said
the memo published by a group calling itself
Lords of Dharamraja was “suspicious” and
that law enforcement was not taking it at
face value.
India’s defence ministry declined on
Tuesday to authenticate the memo or the
surveillance operation. It said the
description of the alleged operation was
“convoluted”. The US embassy in New Delhi
also declined to comment on the material.
The commission was “aware of these reports
and [has] contacted relevant authorities to
investigate the matter”, said Jonathan
Weston, a commission spokesman.
If genuine, the memo would suggest Indian
spies were interested in how US economic
engagement, by the likes of engineering
group General Electric, might bolster
China’s technological prowess and
Washington’s view of manipulation of the
renminbi.
India is preoccupied with what it sees as
a
growing
security threat posed by neighbouring
China to the world’s largest democracy. It
worries about the possible emergence of a
so-called ‘G2’ between China and the US, and
was riled two years ago by President Barack
Obama’s suggestion on a visit to Beijing
that China play a role in south Asian
stability.
But one former state department official
said dialogue between India and the US had
broadened in recent months to address New
Delhi’s fears that it was outside of a
compact between Washington and Beijing.
The commission had itself focused on the
cyber security threat posed by China, and
warned of its growing capabilities.
The memo suggests that India, which has
skills honed in IT outsourcing and a
successful satellite industry, has embarked
on global cyber-monitoring, an area where it
has sought co-operation from other powers.
“The Indian government has taken
substantive measures to enhance its cyber
security. It is not surprising that India
has taken such a proactive measure to secure
itself,” said V.R. Raghavan, a retired
general and president of the Centre for
Security Analysis.
But he acknowledged: “No government will
accept [responsibility for] this [kind of
practice]; instead it will deny it.”
Additional reporting by Girija
Shivakumar in New Delhi and Anna Fifield
in Washington
The Financial Times Limited 2012.