U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly determined that a Chinese spy balloon, which traversed American airspace last year, used a U.S. internet service provider to facilitate its communications.
This revelation was shared with NBC News by two incumbent U.S. officials and one former official privy to the assessment.
The Chinese spy balloon was found to have leveraged the U.S. internet provider to transmit and receive Chinese communications, primarily concerning the balloon's navigation. The official evaluation of the spy balloon revealed that the internet connection facilitated the transmission of high-bandwidth data over brief periods.
The Biden administration, according to the anonymous officials, sought a covert court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. This order, if granted, would permit the U.S. to gather information about the spy balloon during its flight over American territory. However, the court's decision remains undisclosed to the public.
If the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court were to approve such an order, it would empower U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct electronic surveillance of the spy balloon. This would include accessing communications transmitted by the balloon via the U.S. internet service provider.
The identity of the U.S. internet service provider remains undisclosed by NBC News. However, the news outlet reported that the internet company, following an internal investigation and discussions with U.S. officials, denied that the Chinese spy balloon had utilized its network.
In response to these allegations, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu reiterated to NBC News China's assertion that the spy balloon was merely a weather balloon that had "accidentally" entered U.S. airspace.
"As we had made it clear before, the airship, used for meteorological research, unintentionally drifted into U.S. because of the westerlies and its limited self-steering capability," Liu stated. "The facts are clear."
Several former U.S. officials informed NBC News that Chinese intelligence officials have historically used internet service providers in various countries as alternative communication networks. These officials further revealed that China has consistently endeavored to utilize secure or encrypted networks to ensure the security of its communications.
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