Yesterday, FBI Director Christopher Wray, the head of the NSA and other senior officials addressed the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party with an unprecedented public warning that Chinese hackers are preparing to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm” to the US:
Chinese government hacking efforts now target the entire American populace, and the escalating urgency of the overall threat that China poses to U.S. national security requires more investment in the FBI’s capabilities, FBI Director Wray warned lawmakers during a January 31 appearance before the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
“I do not want those watching today to think we can’t protect ourselves,” he told legislators. “But I do want the American people to know that we cannot afford to sleep on this danger.”
China’s quest to steal American intellectual property to gain an economic and militaristic edge over the United States—through nefarious cyber means and traditional espionage, alike—hasn’t let up. But the scope of its malicious cyber activities has expanded to target our nation’s critical infrastructure, Wray told lawmakers during the hearing, which looked to gauge the risks that CCP cyber efforts poses to U.S. national security.
“There has been far too little public focus on the fact that PRC [People’s Republic of China] hackers are targeting our critical infrastructure—our water treatment plants, our electrical grid, our oil and natural gas pipelines, our transportation systems,” Wray told the committee during his opening remarks. “And the risk that poses to every American requires our attention now.”
China’s state-sponsored hackers are posturing themselves to be able to take down these vital resources at a moment’s notice. That way, if conflict breaks out between the U.S. and China, they can cripple those resources and do direct harm to U.S. citizens, Wray explained. “Low blows against civilians are part of China’s plan,” he said.
HYAS CEO David Ratner had this comment:
“Critical infrastructure is unfortunately too vulnerable to a variety of attacks, and we need to focus on cyber resiliency across the board or risk not just the interruption of basic services but potentially loss of human life. Bad actors will continue to find new vectors to try and wreak havoc; the only path forward is proactive intelligence and overall operational resiliency to ensure that each new attack is handled quickly and efficiently, before damage ensues. The time to act is now.”
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the US aren’t the only targets of these hackers. Chances are that other countries are in the same boat. Which means that it’s time for them to step up their security game, or really bad things will happen to those who don’t.
UPDATE: Mark B. Cooper, President & Founder, PKI Solutions adds this comment:
“The warning from FBI Director Christopher Wray about Chinese hackers targeting US infrastructure emphasizes the sense of urgency needed to improve the security of core systems to critical infrastructure. It’s no longer safe to assume these core systems like Identity and Encryption are resilient; organizations need to manage the security posture of each of their critical systems. These measures are essential in ensuring vulnerabilities are identified and mitigated properly, reducing the risk of exploitation by malicious actors.”
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This entry was posted on February 1, 2024 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags FBI, Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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FBI Warns That Chinese Hackers Are Prepping To ‘Wreak Havoc’On US Critical Infrastructure
Yesterday, FBI Director Christopher Wray, the head of the NSA and other senior officials addressed the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party with an unprecedented public warning that Chinese hackers are preparing to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm” to the US:
Chinese government hacking efforts now target the entire American populace, and the escalating urgency of the overall threat that China poses to U.S. national security requires more investment in the FBI’s capabilities, FBI Director Wray warned lawmakers during a January 31 appearance before the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
“I do not want those watching today to think we can’t protect ourselves,” he told legislators. “But I do want the American people to know that we cannot afford to sleep on this danger.”
China’s quest to steal American intellectual property to gain an economic and militaristic edge over the United States—through nefarious cyber means and traditional espionage, alike—hasn’t let up. But the scope of its malicious cyber activities has expanded to target our nation’s critical infrastructure, Wray told lawmakers during the hearing, which looked to gauge the risks that CCP cyber efforts poses to U.S. national security.
“There has been far too little public focus on the fact that PRC [People’s Republic of China] hackers are targeting our critical infrastructure—our water treatment plants, our electrical grid, our oil and natural gas pipelines, our transportation systems,” Wray told the committee during his opening remarks. “And the risk that poses to every American requires our attention now.”
China’s state-sponsored hackers are posturing themselves to be able to take down these vital resources at a moment’s notice. That way, if conflict breaks out between the U.S. and China, they can cripple those resources and do direct harm to U.S. citizens, Wray explained. “Low blows against civilians are part of China’s plan,” he said.
HYAS CEO David Ratner had this comment:
“Critical infrastructure is unfortunately too vulnerable to a variety of attacks, and we need to focus on cyber resiliency across the board or risk not just the interruption of basic services but potentially loss of human life. Bad actors will continue to find new vectors to try and wreak havoc; the only path forward is proactive intelligence and overall operational resiliency to ensure that each new attack is handled quickly and efficiently, before damage ensues. The time to act is now.”
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the US aren’t the only targets of these hackers. Chances are that other countries are in the same boat. Which means that it’s time for them to step up their security game, or really bad things will happen to those who don’t.
UPDATE: Mark B. Cooper, President & Founder, PKI Solutions adds this comment:
“The warning from FBI Director Christopher Wray about Chinese hackers targeting US infrastructure emphasizes the sense of urgency needed to improve the security of core systems to critical infrastructure. It’s no longer safe to assume these core systems like Identity and Encryption are resilient; organizations need to manage the security posture of each of their critical systems. These measures are essential in ensuring vulnerabilities are identified and mitigated properly, reducing the risk of exploitation by malicious actors.”
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This entry was posted on February 1, 2024 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags FBI, Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.