The FBI discovered that Chinese hackers had managed to break into many of the country’s critical infrastructures. Enough to potentially allow them to do a lot of damage!
The quiet war between the United States and China takes many forms. One of the best known is obviously that of trade sanctions, and particularly that applied by the United States on extremely sensitive tech products, such as semiconductors. But the two rivals also clash in cyberspace, which can have very tangible effects in reality!
A little game that has been going on for five years
China would be even more dangerous than the United States imagined. This is what emerges from a report of around fifty pages produced by the FBI, and to which CNN was able to gain access.
Chinese hackers have in fact penetrated many of the country’s infrastructures for almost five years. They would thus have taken their place in systems as important as those of transport, water or electricity.
As a result, they would be in an extremely advantageous position to, if necessary, attack these systems essential to daily life. And sow panic, even cause deaths.
Attacks to be expected in the future?
The same report explains that, for the moment, these hackers have remained silent, and have not taken any action. However, the problem would be urgent for the American authorities, who have also issued a certain number of tips for companies to follow so that they protect themselves from such attacks.
The FBI believes that this Chinese inactivity should not persist for long. Thus, during a Congressional hearing last week, the director of the agency Christopher Wray indicated that hackers from the Middle Kingdom were preparing to act. “ Cyber threats to our critical infrastructure pose real threats to our physical security » he also wanted to clarify.
Source : Engadget
19