FBI director to issue warning about Chinese hacking threat

FBI Director Christopher Wray is about to warn lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday that Chinese hackers are getting ready to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities.” 

Wray and different authorities officers are set to testify in entrance of the House Select Committee at 11 a.m. for a listening to titled “The Chinese Community Party Cyber Threat to the American Homeland and National Security.” 

“There has been far too little public focus on the fact that People’s Republic of China hackers are targeting our critical infrastructure — our water treatment plants, our electrical grid, our oil and natural gas pipelines, our transportation systems. And the risk that poses to every American requires our attention – now,” Wray is anticipated to inform lawmakers in an excerpt from his remarks. 

“China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities, if or when China decides the time has come to strike,” he’ll add. 

NEW GROUP LAUNCHES TO COMBAT CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY INFLUENCE ACROSS US 

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies earlier than a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight listening to on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 5, 2023. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Wray can be anticipated to say that “today, and literally every day” Chinese hackers are “actively attacking our economic security, engaging in wholesale theft of our innovation, and our personal and corporate data.” 

“And they don’t just hit our security and economy. They target our freedoms, reaching inside our borders, across America, to silence, coerce, and threaten our citizens and residents,” Wray will add in his testimony. 

CHINESE HACKERS OUTNUMBER FBI CYBER PERSONNEL ‘BY AT LEAST 50 TO 1,’ WRAY TESTIFIES 

FBI Director Christopher Wray is about to inform lawmakers in Washington, D.C., about the hacking threats that China poses to Americans. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Wray beforehand testified in April final yr that FBI brokers are outnumbered by “at least 50 to 1” when making an attempt to deal with the threat China poses to crucial infrastructure via its cyber hacking practices, and mentioned Beijing has stolen extra private and company information from the U.S. than some other nation. 

“They’ve got a bigger hacking program than every other major nation combined and have stolen more of our personal and corporate data than all other nations – big or small combined,” he mentioned throughout a House Appropriations Committee listening to on the time. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies throughout a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee listening to on Capitol Hill on Oct. 31, 2023. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP through Getty Images)

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“To give you a sense of what we’re up against, if each one of the FBI’s cyber agents and intel analysts focused exclusively on the China threat – on nothing but China – Chinese hackers would still outnumber FBI cyber personnel by at least 50 to 1,” Wray testified. 

Fox News’ David Spunt and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.