Hackers linked to China have been snooping around critical U.S. infrastructure to put themselves in place to attack “at the right moment,” according to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage,” Wray said Thursday night while speaking at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats, reports the New York Post.
He added that the FBI and other federal agencies are working behind the scenes to push back at the threat, which he said is “upon us now.”
“[China’s] plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist,” Wray added.
The cyber spying is happening because of the Chinese Communist Party’s “aspirations to wealth and power,” he explained but said it is difficult to determine if China’s actions are taking place to keep the United States from protecting Taiwan.
However, he said China wants to have countermeasures ready for a predicted “crisis between China and Taiwan by 2027.”
