America’s bigger China cyber threat isn’t TikTok

IF A conflict between the US and China were to emerge, potentially over Taiwan, Americans would have a far more serious threat to their everyday lives than TikTok propaganda. In a worst-case scenario, they may not be able to put petrol in their cars or turn on their lights.

Chinese hackers are burrowing into the networks of major critical US infrastructure, including energy grids, water treatment plants and transportation networks. These cyber intrusions are part of a plan for Beijing, if it wants, to “land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist”, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Christopher Wray said at a cybersecurity summit last April. In other words, these keyboard warriors are gearing up their ability to bring crucial aspects of American life to a screeching halt.

As the government was still investigating the extent of this cyber-espionage campaign by a group dubbed Volt Typhoon, the White House confirmed in December that another outfit called Salt Typhoon was able to breach major US telecom giants. One lawmaker called it the “worst telecom hack in our nation’s history – by far”. Americans were recently caught off-guard again, when the Treasury Department disclosed that a separate state-sponsored hacker had breached its network. It was reported that even Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s computer was infiltrated.