China’s offensive cyber capabilities have been under the scanner for a few years now. Even though China does not have a formal cyber offensive strategy, the capability mix and the changing approach that China has developed in the cyber offensive realm remain quite consequential.
A recent U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hearing disclosed a lot about China’s growing offensive cyber prowess. The hearing titled “The CCP Cyber Threat to the American Homeland and National Security” revealed Beijing’s interests in targeting U.S. infrastructure, the disruption of which would “wreak havoc,” creating enormous harm to American society at large. The hearing included statements from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly, and U.S. Cyber Command Chief General Paul Nakasone.
In his opening statement, Wray said that “the CCP’s dangerous actions – China’s multi-pronged assault on our national and economic security – make it the defining threat of our generation.” He added that the threat posed by the CCP to the United States’ critical infrastructure – including water treatment plants, the electrical grid, oil and gas pipelines, and the transportation sector – has received very little public focus. Wray remarked that “China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities.”
Read the rest of the story at Eurasia Review, here.
