Kerry: Russian Federation, China ‘very likely’ reading my emails

Secretary of State John Kerry said that Chinese and Russian hackers are probably reading his emails – and he writes messages assuming they are.

He was responding to the CBS host who asked him if he “thought that the Chinese or the Russians read (his) emails”.

“It’s very possible… and I certainly write things with that awareness”, Kerry added.

“Unfortunately, we’re living in a world where a number of countries, China and Russian Federation included, have consistently been engaged in cyberattacks against American interests, against American government”, Kerry said, adding it’s an issue of “enormous concern”. He indicated that China’s “consistent” cyberattacks on the United States is “an issue that we recently raised very, very strongly in our dialogue with the Chinese”.

“Spying has taken place for centuries”, Kerry said in excerpts provided by CBS ahead of the program’s airing.

As a response to the increasing number of cyber attacks against Washington, U.S. officials said they were developing ways to beef up the security of computer systems of the entire government.

Kerry’s comments comes after an NBC report revealed that Chinese hackers have had access to the private emails of several top U.S. national security and trade officials since 2010.

The report, citing a US intelligence official and a National Security Agency (NSA) briefing in 2014, said the intrusions involved private accounts of senior officials and not those of the government, which are more secure.

China has dismissed the hacking allegations as “irresponsible and unscientific”.

“With no proof, Kerry’s accusation is irresponsible and aimed at indicating that the Chinese government is responsible for cyber attacks in the U.S.”, Shi Yinhong, director of the Center for American Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times. In one of the latest attacks, the media reported in June that the personal data of 4 million federal employees was stolen.