China-Russia cyberspace links a source of concern, says top US cyber warrior

America in midst of identifying type of info the two had shared

- Bhagyashree Garekar Foreign Editor

China and Russia are trading information in cyberspace, a development the United States regards with deep concern, says the man charged with preventing and defeating cyber attacks on America.

"What we see with both China and Russia is a close association of being able to share information," General Paul Nakasone, head of the US Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, said in an interview with The Straits Times on Friday.

He was asked if he saw signs that the two countries were collaborating in cyberspace, amid accusations from top US officials that Beijing is considering supplying arms to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Referring to the meetings this week in Moscow between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Gen Nakasone said the US was in the process of identifying the nature of information that the two countries had shared. "What type of information was shared? What type of discussions are they conducting? This is broadly what we are looking at." In its annual threat assessment released in early March, the US said China represents the topmost cyber espionage threat to the US government and private-sector networks. The report also named Russia, Iran and North Korea as other nations with growing cyber attack capabilities.