France fingered as worse than China for cyber espionage

France conducts worse industrial espionage on some EU countries than Russia or China, the head of a German satellite company has been quoted as saying, in another WikiLeaks cable revelation.

"France is the evil empire stealing technology, and Germany knows this," Berry Smutny, the head of OHB Technology, was quoted by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten as saying in the cable.

He added that French intellectual property-related cyber espionage did more damage to the German economy than that of Russia or China, two countries notorious for their nefarious internet-related activities.

If true, the allegations will come as little surprise to many government insiders.

In October, David Blunkett, chairman of the not-for-profit International Cyber Security Protection Alliance, revealed that when he was home secretary in the early 2000s, then French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy claimed that his team were snooping on Home Office emails sent to the British embassy in Paris.

While the revelations made in the latest WikiLeaks cable can't necessarily be taken as gospel, they once again highlight the fact that cyber espionage is certainly not the preserve of demonised countries such as China.

It also throws into sharp focus the need, as outlined in the government's new Cyber Security Strategy, for closer co-operation between the private sector and government cyber experts in GCHQ to spot and address any threats head on.