It has been said that Chinese hackers have been in the US network for almost 5 years. The hackers were from the People’s Republic of China, and they were going after American assets and other important organizations.
According to the alert, “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation assess that state-sponsored cyber actors from the People’s Republic of China are seeking to reposition themselves on IT networks in preparation for disruptive or destructive cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure in the event of a major crisis or conflict with the United States.”
The long operation was paid for by the Volt Typhoon and was a way for Chinese officials to hack into top US systems and spread malware.
According to a news release, “CISA and its U.S. Government partners have confirmed that this group of PRC state-sponsored cyber actors has compromised entities across multiple critical infrastructure sectors in cyberspace, including communications, energy, transportation, water and wastewater, in the United States and its territories.”
All of these operations were meant to “launch destructive cyberattacks that would put Americans’ physical safety at risk and slow down military readiness in case of a major crisis or conflict with the United States.”
Speaking about the event, Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI, said, “The Volt Typhoon malware let China hide, among other things, pre-operational reconnaissance and network exploitation against critical infrastructure like our communications, energy, transportation, and water sectors.”To be clear, threats to our key infrastructure that happen online are real-life threats to our safety.
There are a lot of worries about these results and what the original operation might have meant. Officials have said that they are looking into this and will keep doing so while also working to stop this from happening. They also said things like this are only the “tip of the iceberg.”
