Top US military official wouldn't be surprised if Snowden leaks reached Chinese and Russians

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ANI Washington
Last Updated : Aug 05 2013 | 12:00 PM IST

A top US military official has expressed no surprise to the possibility that the classified documents revealed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have been accessed by the Chinese or Russian intelligence.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey has said that he wouldn't be surprised if the Russian and Chinese governments had already acquired classified American information allegedly taken by Snowden, ABC News reports.

Snowden who fled to Hong Kong to escape US extradition took with him four laptops containing the classified data about the NSA secret 'snoop-op' allegedly intercepting almost every conversation in the world.

Dempsey said that it is beyond his knowledge the feasibility of either Russians or Chinese in obtaining the information on Snowden's computer without physically possessing them.

Meanwhile, Snowden had denied earlier about giving away any of the classified information to both the Chinese or Russian government and also denied if the respective governments were able to acquire data from his laptops through alternative means.

Dempsey further expressed concerned about the revelations and said that Snowden has caused the some considerable damage to their intelligence architecture as a result of which their adversaries are changing the way that they communicate, referring to the recent changes in communication patterns and means in the militant networks.

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First Published: Aug 05 2013 | 11:49 AM IST

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