Mexican Reports on Alleged US Espionage Under Investigation

On Tuesday, Mexican newspaper reported that Washington had been spying on Mexico using computer systems since 1996.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — Moscow-based Internet security company Kaspersky Lab is currently working with a Mexican newspaper to establish the source of information it received about alleged US espionage, the company's officer told Sputnik on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Mexico's Excelsior newspaper reported, citing Kaspersky Lab analyst Dmitry Bestuzhev, that Washington had been spying on Mexico using computer systems since 1996. However, Kaspersky Lab maintains that Bestuzev never made the claims.

"We are working with the publication to understand how this could happen," Kristina Ardelyanu, head of threat research and security intelligence PR, told Sputnik.

The Mexican newspaper's report came the day after Kaspersky Lab revealed an unprecedented hacking program conducted by a group dubbed the Equation Group.

The company found malware on hard drives used by crucial government institutions and organizations in at least 30 countries, including Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Syria.

The revelation triggered media reports about the US National Security Agency being behind the spying operation. Kaspersky Lab did not confirm this information, but indicated that the malware is similar to the Stuxnet worm, attributed to the US intelligence.