France: U.S. Denies Spying Report

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/world/europe/france-us-denies-spying-report.html

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The United States Embassy in Paris denied Wednesday that the United States carried out a cyberattack to read files on computers in the Élysée Palace during the administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy, as reported in Wednesday’s edition of L’Express, a French weekly. The magazine quoted an unnamed source as saying that a computer worm had been introduced into Élysée computers in May and suggesting that the worm was similar to Flame, a virus aimed at Iran and presumed to be the work of the United States and Israel. In a statement, the embassy said that the story was untrue and that the charge against Washington was based on “a bundle of assumptions.” One American official said that it was as if, after a car accident, anyone who had a car would be blamed. The embassy statement said, “We categorically refute the allegations” that the United States “participated in a cyberattack against the French government.”