However, the increasing trend to closer international connectivity also makes it difficult for U.S. intelligence to operate.

It is also exposing the United States to greater foreign intelligence threats, he said. “Our comparative advantage in some areas of technical intelligence, where we have been dominant in the past, is being eroded,” he said.

Additionally, “several nonstate actors, including international terrorist groups, conduct intelligence activities as effectively as capable state intelligence services,” Fingar said.

Fingar also noted that a significant number of states are engaged in economic espionage, including those from China and Russia. “China and Russia’s foreign intelligence services are among the most aggressive in collecting against sensitive and protected U.S. targets,” he said.