FBI Director Chris Wray revealed today China is developing the capability to cause significant damage to our critical infrastructure at a time of their choosing. The only question is the time to launch a catastrophic blow.
“China is developing the ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing,” Wray said at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. “Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic.”
According to Wray, an ongoing Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon has successfully infiltrated several American companies in telecommunications, energy, water, and other critical sectors. 23 pipeline operators are being targeted.
According to Reuters, Wray went on to note that China’s hackers operated a series of botnets, which are constellations of compromised personal computers and servers around the globe to hide their nefarious cyber actions. Private sector American technology and cybersecurity companies previously attributed Volt Typhoon to China, including reports by security researchers with Microsoft and Google.
Reuters reports that a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson claimed the Volt Typhoon was unrelated to China’s government but is a criminal ransomware group.
