FBI Director Christopher Wray is scheduled to warn lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday that Chinese hackers are preparing to “wreak havoc and cause real-world damage to American people and communities.”
Wray and other government officials are scheduled to testify before a special House committee at 11 a.m. in a hearing titled “The Chinese Communist Party’s Cyber Threat to America’s Homeland and National Security.”
“There has been far too little public attention to the fact that hackers from the People’s Republic of China are targeting our nation’s critical infrastructure, including our water treatment facilities, power grid, oil and gas pipelines, and transportation systems. “And the risks it poses,” Wray will tell lawmakers in excerpts of his remarks, “all Americans need our attention now.”
He added: “Chinese hackers are positioning themselves in American infrastructure in preparation for wreaking havoc on American citizens and communities and causing real-world damage should China decide the time is right for an attack.” There is,” he added.
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FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee Oversight Hearing at the Capitol on December 5, 2023 in Washington, DC. (AP/Susan Walsh)
Ray added that “Today, and literally every day,” Chinese hackers are “actively attacking our economic security and engaging in large-scale theft of our innovations and personal and corporate data.” This is what I plan to say.
“And they don’t just hurt our security and economy; they target our freedoms, reach inside our borders and across America, to silence and coerce our people and residents. and threaten them,” Ray would add in his testimony.
Ray testifies that Chinese hackers “outnumber FBI cyber employees by at least 50 to 1.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray is scheduled to speak to lawmakers in Washington, D.C., about the hacking threat China poses to Americans. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
Wray testified last April that FBI agents are outnumbered by “at least 50 to one” when trying to deal with the threat China poses to critical infrastructure through cyber-hacking activity, saying the Chinese government is outnumbered by the U.S. He said it also stole more personal and corporate data. more than any other country.
“They have a hacking program bigger than all the other major countries combined, and they have more personal data and access than all other countries large and small combined,” he said at a House Appropriations Committee hearing at the time. They are stealing corporate data.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on October 31, 2023 at the U.S. Capitol. (Mandel Gann/AFP via Getty Images)
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“To give you an idea of what we are up against, even if FBI cyber agents and intelligence analysts each focused solely on the Chinese threat, they would not focus on anything other than China. Even if we didn’t, Chinese hackers would still outnumber the FBI’s cyber employees by at least 50 people.1″ Wray testified.
Fox News’ David Spunt and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.