House science committee considers spy threats to federal labs

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s oversight subcommittee is examining the espionage threats facing federal laboratories in the US.

Although the subcommittee’s chairman, Republican Representative Paul Broun from Georgia, said science was a global endeavor during the 16 May hearing, he warned that policymakers can’t afford to ignore the reality that there are “nefarious actors”. He claimed these include insiders, business rivals, criminals, terrorists, and foreign intelligence services who want to steal American research results.

“Finding the appropriate balance between scientific openness and security concerns is not new,” Broun stated. “But it is critical that we have this type of public discussion regularly, so as to maintain open lines of communication, and if necessary, recalibrate our strategies to respond to new threats.” He claimed that Russia and China have regularly topped the intelligence and law enforcement community’s lists of thieves of sensitive scientific and technical information.