Chinese-linked hackers have snooped around critical US infrastructure and have put themselves in a position to attack at “the right moment,” FBI director Christopher Wray ominously warned. Speaking at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats, Wray underscored that the bureau and other federal authorities have been scrambling behind the scenes to counter the threat, which he said is “upon us now.” “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage,” Wray claimed.[1]
“[China’s] plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist.” The FBI director surmised much of that cyber burrowing by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stemmed from its “aspirations to wealth and power.” He caveated that it is difficult to determine how much of the pre-positioning was done to deter the US from protecting Taiwan.
The overall threat from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is a hybrid one that involves crime, counterintelligence, and cybersecurity—and which the FBI is countering with resources from all three missional spheres, Wray said.
The threat is partially “driven by the CCP’s aspirations to wealth and power,” Wray said, adding that China wants to “seize economic development in the areas most critical to tomorrow’s economy,” even if doing so requires theft. The Chinese government has tried to pilfer “intellectual property, technology, and research” from nearly every industry in the U.S. economy, he noted.
But the CCP also wants to prevent the United States from being able to get in the way of a potential future “crisis between China and Taiwan by 2027,” he said. Americans are starting to feel the effects of this sprint, he said, pointing to “cyber intrusions and criminal activity” as early deterrence efforts by the CCP.
Budgets currently being crafted will determine what resources the U.S. government will have available to fight back three years from now. “In the private sector and academia, too, the investments, partnerships, security, and capabilities you’re building today will dictate how those sectors are prepared—or not—three short years from now,” he added.[2]
Private sector organizations and academia, alike, can partner with cyber security government and private organizations to protect the nation’s “most essential networks” and to conduct “joint, sequenced operations.” Since private companies own most of our nation’s critical infrastructure, they can help the US government by defending against Chinese attacks and sharing "vital information about what adversaries are doing—or preparing to do—against us,” he said.
Vigilance, the FBI announced, is vital to this effort. “That includes resiliency planning—things like developing an incident response plan, actually testing and exercising that plan, and fortifying networks and devices to make the attack surface as inhospitable as possible,” Wray added. These plans should indicate when a company will contact the Bureau for assistance in the event of a cyber intrusion, he noted. Likewise, he encouraged private sector organizations to keep an eye on their “hardware and supply chains” to avoid potential compromise, such as the Solar Winds hack that used “innocuous-looking software updates” as a vector. “Vetting your vendors, their security practices, and knowing who’s building the hardware and software you’re granting access to your network is crucial, so push for transparency into what vendors and suppliers are doing with your data and how they will maintain it,” he said.
Wray said partnerships are critical to countering the risk posed by China, and that it’s vital for cyberattack victims to promptly notify the FBI (or state and local agencies). That way, we can gather threat intelligence that can help us both assist victims and mitigate risk to other organizations and sectors. “We’ve seen the best outcomes in situations where a company made a habit of reaching out to their local FBI field office even before there was any indication of a problem, because that put everyone on the same page and contributed to the company’s readiness,” he said.
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[1] https://nypost.com/2024/04/18/us-news/fbi-director-christopher-wray-warns-chinese-hackers-lying-in-wait-to-attack-us-infrastructure/
[2] https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/chinese-government-poses-bold-and-unrelenting-threat-to-u-s-critical-infrastructure-fbi-director-says
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