Chinese hackers are developing the “ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing,” FBI director Christopher Wray said this week.
He added that the hackers are waiting “for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow.”
The hacking campaign, known as Volt Typhoon, has embedded itself successfully in several American critical infrastructure companies that include telecommunications, energy and water, and others, he said.
“Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic,” Wray said Thursday at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats.
A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said this week that Volt Typhoon is part of a criminal ramsonware group and is not related to the government.
“Some in the US have been using origin-tracing of cyberattacks as a tool to hit and frame China, claiming the US to be the victim while it’s the other way round, and politicizing cybersecurity issues,” the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. said in a separate statement.
“And they don’t just hit our security and economy. They target our freedoms, reaching inside our borders, across America, to silence, coerce, and threaten our citizens and residents,” Wray testified.
Fox News’ Greg Norman and Reuters contributed to this report.
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