Christopher Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has accused China of inserting harmful malware into computer networks in an attempt to undermine critical infrastructure in the United States.
According to a recent First Post report, Wray added that the size of the threat is now larger than ever before, and that the organization is “laser-focused” on countering China’s operations, which have the potential to jeopardize national security in the United States.
“We’re laser-focused on this as a real threat, and we’re working with a lot of partners to try to identify, anticipate, and disrupt it,” Wray said at the Munich Security Conference, where officials met to explore ideas on the Ukraine and Middle Eastern conflicts.
“I understand the challenges we have in terms of sobriety and clarity. He went on, “We’ll have to be quick on our feet all the time.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to Wray’s remarks by stating that China strongly opposes and takes legal action against all sorts of cyber-attacks.
She noted that the US Cyber Force Command has explicitly stated that other countries’ critical infrastructure is a suitable target for US cyberattacks.
She went on to say, “It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts.”
On Monday, Mao also stated that since last year, China’s cybersecurity agencies have produced findings confirming the US government’s ongoing cyber-attacks on Beijing’s critical infrastructure.
360 Security Group’s security study indicates that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been conducting covert hacking operations against top Chinese companies for over 10 years, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been actively involved in espionage and intelligence theft.
