U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry revealed on Tuesday that he writes his emails with the knowledge that either Chinese or Russian hackers could be reading his messages.

71-year-old Kerry made the statement on CBS Evening News after host Scott Pelley asked if he thought his email accounts have been infiltrated by Chinese and Russian cyber spies.

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"The answer is it is very likely. It is not...outside the realm of possibility, and we know that they have attacked a number of American interests over the course of the last days," Kerry said. "It is very possible...I certainly write things with that awareness."

Kerry added that the U.S. is taking the issue of cyber-attacks very seriously. He added that the government hopes for a successful outcome of talks with China on the issue which threatens U.S. national security.

"It has huge consequences, and we are trying to create a code of conduct and a system of behavior that hopefully could rein some of it in. But right now it's pretty much the Wild West," he said.

Kerry's comments comes after an NBC report revealed that Chinese hackers have had access to the private emails of several top U.S. national security and trade officials since 2010.

However, the U.S. government has not officially confirmed the infiltration of the private emails of several high-ranking officials. U.S. intelligence officials are reported to have first detected the breach in April 2010. According to a 2014 National Security Agency (NSA) briefing, the breach codenamed "Dancing Panda" and "Legion Amethyst," is still ongoing.

The Obama administration has accused China of being responsible for the theft of the personal data of millions of federal employees from the Office of Personnel Management.

Recently, the Pentagon accused Russia of being behind a cyber-attack on a highly classified email system used by the Joint Staff.

The government has reiterated that federal agencies are constantly being attacked by hackers. Although Kerry acknowledges that spying is an old art, he says the new techniques are dangerous and expensive to defend against.

"Spying has taken place for centuries, and the latest means of spying is to be going after people' cyber," Kerry said.

"Companies spend billions of dollars to protect themselves, the United States government does the same. We are deeply involved in fighting back against this on a daily basis."

Kerry added that the U.S. would - as it has done in the past - discuss the issue of cyber-espionage with the Chinese government in direct talks.

However, experts say these talks have not been very successful. Last year, China suspended bilateral cyber-security discussions after the U.S. charged five officials of the People Liberation Army with hacking.

However, in June China and the U.S. agreed to organize a group to share cyber-security concerns.

Kerry said the issue of cyber-security would be raised by President Barrack Obama when President Xi Jinping visits the U.S. in September.

China has repeatedly denied being responsible for cyber-attacks against the U.S. and other countries as Beijing opposes all forms of hacking.

TagsJohn Kerry Email China Russia Hackers, China Cyberattack on US, Cyberattack US China