FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party on Wednesday morning, warning of the growing threat of Chinese cyberattacks against the U.S. power grid and other infrastructure.
“If China decides the time is right for an attack, Chinese hackers will attack the United States in preparation for wreaking havoc and causing real-world harm to U.S. citizens and communities,” Wray told the panel, according to excerpts from the report. The plan was to instruct them that they were stationed on the infrastructure of the United States. Prepared testimony released by the FBI.
According to prepared remarks, Wray also said that Chinese hackers targeting critical U.S. infrastructure, including water treatment projects, power grids, oil and gas pipelines, and transportation systems, “is not in the public eye.” “There are far too few,” he argued.
“And the risks it poses to all Americans demand our attention now,” excerpts from the prepared testimony read.
In his remarks, Wray stressed that the “cyberattacks” by Chinese hackers “go far beyond foreseeing future conflicts,” and that hackers “actively attack” America’s economic security every day. “They are stealing our innovations and our technology on a massive scale,” he said. Personal and corporate data. ”
“And they don’t just hurt our security and economy. They target our freedoms, reach within our borders and across America, and threaten our people and residents. silencing, coercing and threatening,” the excerpt reads.
Ray’s comments added to a series of stark warnings he has issued about the Chinese government’s hacking capabilities. In a 2022 interview with NBC News, Wray said that when he became FBI director in 2017, he was shocked to learn of the scale of China’s efforts to steal U.S. technology and that the FBI had no plans to counter them. He said he was launching an average of two counterintelligence investigations a day in order to do so. threat.
Last year, China-linked hackers compromised the email accounts of the State Department and the Commerce Department, as well as US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns. The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said at the time that the targeted intelligence-gathering operation lasted about a month.