The US neutralizes the infiltration of the pro-China Volt Typhoon cyber group
The cybercriminals had penetrated critical US civilian infrastructures, which could have been severely disrupted in the event of a crisis.
On January 31, 2024, FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed that his department had neutralized a cyberattack carried out by Volt Typhoon, a Chinese-affiliated group. The latter had managed to infiltrate the systems of critical American civilian infrastructures by exploiting vulnerable routers. In May 2023, Washington and its Western allies denounced this large-scale act of cyber-espionage.
« Just this morning, we announced an operation in which we and our partners identified hundreds of routers hacked by the group known as Volt Typhoon, sponsored by the People’s Republic of China, » the FBI director said during a hearing on strategic rivalry with China at the House of Representatives. The US Department of Justice confirmed this shortly afterwards.
The malware deactivated by the FBI « allowed China to hide, among other things, reconnaissance and exploitation activities…against vital infrastructure such as our communications, transportation and water sectors« , said Christopher Wray. According to him, Beijing could have « caused chaos » and « inflicted real-world damage on American citizens and communities« .
Matthew Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, confirmed that China had sought « leverage in a future crisis » through access to critical infrastructure. In the event of an invasion of Taiwan by Beijing, the US government fears that a wave of Chinese cyberattacks could disrupt the American military response.