‘Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic,’ FBI Director Christopher Wray said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday that hackers linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have infiltrated America’s critical infrastructure and are biding their time as they wait for the right moment to strike a “devastating blow.”
Mr. Wray said in an April 18 speech at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, that the threats posed by China-sponsored hackers are no longer a matter that’s over the horizon but that “they’re upon us now.”
“A few years ago, we might have said China represents the most significant long-term threat,” he said. “That’s no longer the best way to describe the danger.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) assessed last year that the Chinese regime was busy building the capacity to deter American intervention in a looming crisis between China and Taiwan by 2027. But that timeline has been accelerated, Mr. Wray said, noting that some of the effects of the enormous CCP-backed hacking enterprise are already being felt today.
An ongoing Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon has burrowed into numerous U.S. companies in various critical sectors including telecommunications, energy, and water, with 23 pipeline operators targeted, Mr. Wray said. With a hacking program that is larger than every other major nation combined, China is developing the ability to physically attack critical U.S. infrastructure at a time of its choosing, he warned.
“Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic,” he said.
A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson has denied state involvement in Volt Typhoon operations, describing it as a criminal ransomware group.
China’s Embassy in Washington has accused the United States of “politicizing cybersecurity issues” and using the origin-tracing of cyberattacks as a tool to “hit and frame China.”
‘Devastating Blow’
U.S. cyber intelligence became aware as far back as 2011 that CCP-sponsored hackers were pre-positioned for potential cyberattacks against U.S. oil and gas companies, the FBI chief said.
By Tom Ozimek
