Story highlights Several FBI, DEA and Homeland Security field offices are tenants in foreign-owned buildings

China, which has a history of hacking, is among the nations identified in the federal report

Washington (CNN) US law-enforcement agencies are at risk of being spied on and hacked because some of their field offices are located in foreign-owned buildings without even knowing it, according to a new government report.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, which was obtained by CNN and is due to be released later Monday, reveals that a number of FBI, Homeland Security, Secret Service and Drug Enforcement Agency offices across the country are housed in space leased from firms based in China and other nations.

Experts told the GAO that the agencies could be vulnerable to espionage and cyber intrusions because the foreign owners could gain unauthorized access to the properties, be able to secretly install surveillance equipment, and have knowledge of building systems like heating, ventilation and electronics which could facilitate hacking.

The General Services Administration, which handles leasing for many federal agencies, is renting space in 20 buildings from foreign owners -- and its investigators were unable to identify who the property owners for about one-third of the government's more than 1,400 "high-security leases."

Nine of the 14 agencies the GAO contacted were unaware the building space they were using was foreign owned.

Read More