It used to be that American hackers and the NSA were the unquestionable world’s best. Following the many revelations from the Snowden leaks, it became clear the U.S. government had not only violated the civil liberties of American citizens, but the NSA had done an excellent job hacking, well, everything. It hacked the phones of world leaders (including key allies) and made major geopolitical rivals China and Russia very nervous.

But, like everything else in the world, American hegemony in cyberspace has quickly faded as the proverbial American empire looks like it's in quick decline for a variety of obvious reasons. And when it comes to hacking powers across the world, it’s been widely reported that everyone from China to private mercenaries have caught up to the hacking skills of American hackers. 

So for our Independence Day edition of CYBER, Motherboard reporter Lorenzo Francheschi Bicchiarrai and host Ben Makuch are discussing America’s standing among the world powers of cyberspace.

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