CAIRO (AA) – Telephone calls made in Egypt have been secured against foreign espionage, Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Atef Helmy said on Tuesday.
"Attempts to penetrate certain websites were detected, but the government dealt with them very professionally," Helmy told reporters on the sidelines of a communication conference in Cairo.
He declined, however, to name the websites in question.
Cryptome, a US-based website devoted to gathering intelligence on espionage, surveillance and national security, said earlier this week that the CIA had reportedly tracked billions of phone calls and SMS messages made in the Middle East region.
According to the website, the CIA has intercepted some 7.8 billion telephone calls made in Saudi Arabia and Iraq and some 1.9 billion calls made in Egypt.
By Reda Ismaili - Anadolu Agency
englishnews@aa.com.tr
