'Powerful tradecraft': how foreign cyber-spies compromised America

The SolarWinds headquarters are seen in Austin, Texas, U.S., December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Sergio Flores

(Reuters) - Speaking at a private dinner for tech security executives at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco in late February, America's cyber defense chief boasted how well his organizations protect the country from spies.

U.S. teams were “understanding the adversary better than the adversary understands themselves,” said General Paul Nakasone, boss of the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command, according to a Reuters reporter present at the Feb. 26 dinner. His speech has not been previously reported.