Unclassified data increasingly targeted by nation-state actors

More nation-state threat actors have been reconstructing classified data from various unclassified information, indicating yet another security challenge for nations part of NATO, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. While protecting classified information has long been a challenge prior to digitalization, cyber spies' increasingly sophisticated capability to derive classified data from stolen unclassified information is game-changing, said U.S. Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden at the 15th annual International Conference on Cyber Conflict. "Thirty years ago, physically breaking into dozens of defense subcontractors offices to make off with reams of paper and then somehow making sense of it all would have been a massive intelligence operation. Today, it's done in a matter of a few clicks," noted Walden, who added that such a threat has prompted the U.S. to unveil new contracting rules meant to ensure sensitive data processors' adherence to stringent information security requirements.