Belgium condemns cyber espionage to public company Belgacom

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BRUSSELS, Sept. 16 -- The Belgian government condemned on Monday the cyber-espionage to its public company Belgacom specializing in telecommunications.

This is the reaction of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Joelle Milquet, and Justice Minister Annemie Turtelboom to Belgacom's complaint, currently considered by the federal prosecutor in the kingdom.

In their statement, they said that Belgacom was the victim of a computer system intrusion. "This detected intrusion would not aim to sabotage, but the collection of strategic information."

The Belgian federal prosecutor confirmed that the used technology indicates "the high level of involvement from another country."

Following revelations of Edward Snowden, a former contractor of the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States, Belgacom had conducted a thorough investigation to discover that the U.S. secret service intercepted at least two years its international telephone communication under the PRISM program.

"If this hypothesis is confirmed and it is actually cyber espionage, the government strongly condemns this intrusion and violation of the integrity of the public company," said the Belgian trio, pledging to "undertake in this case the appropriate steps."

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