China killed and imprisoned dozens of CIA informants from 2010 to 2012, making U. S. officials speculate whether there was a mole within the CIA or if China hacked into the agency’s communication system.
Both the CIA and the FBI declined to comment on reports saying the Chinese government killed or imprisoned 18 to 20 CIA sources from 2010 to 2012 and dismantled the agency’s spying operations in the country. It is described as one of the worst intelligence breach in decades, current and former American officials told the New York Times.
Investigators were uncertain whether the breach was a result of a double agent within the CIA who had betrayed the U. S. or whether the Chinese had hacked the communications system used by the agency to be in contact with foreign sources. The Times reported Saturday citing former American officials from the final weeks of 2010 till the end of 2012, the Chinese killed up to 20 CIA sources.
Read: Department Of Justice Indicted Russian Spies, Hackers For Massive Breach In 2014
Officials also said the number of U. S. assets lost to China were comparable to the loss of assets in the Soviet Union and Russia because of the two infamous spies Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen.
Ames had joined CIA in 1962 in a low-level position. Over the years, he worked on several interesting cases but financial constraints started building up due to troubles in his personal life.
