February 1, 2024 at 03:35PM
China is rapidly enhancing its military, including cyber operations, to deter and confront the United States. Chinese cyberattackers are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure, indicating a strategic shift in tactics. US officials and experts are deeply concerned about China’s disruptive cyber activities and the increasing difficulty in detecting these attacks. This emerging threat requires heightened awareness and preparedness from US technology firms and individual users.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes are as follows:
1. The People’s Republic of China is increasingly focusing on developing its military capabilities, including cyber operations, with an emphasis on targeting critical infrastructure systems as part of a strategy to be ready for broader conflict.
2. There is a shift in China’s cyber strategy from cybercriminal and espionage activities to disruption-readiness, indicating a change in approach towards cyberattacks.
3. The Chinese advanced persistent threats (APTs) are making preparations to disrupt vital assets and systems in response to potential conflict scenarios, such as a conflict with Taiwan or economic and trade tensions in the South China Sea.
4. FBI Director Christopher Wray highlighted the comprehensive threat posed by China, encompassing economic security, innovation, and national security, and emphasized the need for resources to monitor and foil preparatory cyberattacks by Chinese actors.
5. Chinese cyberattackers are increasingly targeting small-office, home-office (SOHO) routers to cover the source of their attacks, and are employing tactics such as “living off the land” to camouflage their offensive actions within legitimate activity, making the attacks harder to detect.
6. The increasing compromise of small-business routers and the use of unmanaged technologies pose a national security liability, requiring both businesses and individuals to take stock of their use of technology and maintain it to mitigate the threat to critical infrastructure.
These takeaways underscore the evolving nature of the cyber threat posed by China and the need for vigilance and preparedness to counter these emerging challenges in the cybersecurity landscape.