FBI Director Christopher Wray said this week that Chinese hackers are developing “the ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of their choosing.”
He added that hackers are waiting for “just the right moment to strike a devastating blow.”
He said the hacking campaign, known as Bolt Typhoon, was successfully integrated into several U.S. critical infrastructure companies, including telecommunications, energy and water companies.
FBI director says China is ‘definitive threat to our generation’
FBI Director Christopher Wray said this week that Chinese hackers are developing “the ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of their choosing.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“The plan is to try to cause a low blow to civilian infrastructure and induce panic,” Wray said Thursday at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflicts and Emerging Threats.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said this week that Bolt Typhoon is part of the criminal Ramsonware group and is not affiliated with the government.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said, “Some parts of the United States are using tracking the source of cyberattacks as a tool to attack and subdue China, claiming that the United States is the victim when the opposite is true, and “It’s politicizing security issues.” In a separate statement.
The hacking campaign, known as Bolt Typhoon, successfully compromised several US critical infrastructure companies, including telecommunications, energy, and water companies. (Photo illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket, Getty Images)
Security experts at Microsoft and Google have previously linked the hackers’ involvement to China, and Lei said the effort was related to U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan.
Wray issued a similar warning to lawmakers on Capitol Hill in February, saying Chinese hackers were intent on “wreaking havoc and causing real-world damage to American people and communities.”
Wray and other government officials were testifying before the House Select Committee on the Communist Party of China for a hearing titled “Chinese Communist Party Cyber Threats to the American Homeland and National Security.”
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“The public has far too little interest in the facts of the People’s Republic of China. [People’s Republic of China] Hackers are targeting our critical infrastructure, including water treatment plants, power grids, oil and gas pipelines, and transportation systems. And the risks to all Americans require our attention now,” Wray told lawmakers at the time.
Experts from Google and Microsoft had previously suggested links between the hackers and the government, but China has denied any links between the hackers and the government. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Ray added that “Today, and literally every day,” Chinese hackers are “actively attacking our economic security and engaging in large-scale theft of our innovations and personal and corporate data.” He also said.
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“And they don’t just hurt our security and economy; they target our freedoms, reach inside our borders and across America, to silence and coerce our people and residents. and threaten them,” Ray testified.
FOX News’ Greg Norman and Reuters contributed to this report.
