FBI director Christopher Wray raised the alarm that Chinese government-linked hackers are waiting for “just the right time to a devastating attack” on critical infrastructure in the United States. During a speech at Vanderbilt University, Wray revealed that a group of Chinese hackers, Volt Typhoon, managed to infiltrate several American companies operating in critical sectors, such as energy or water, according to the International Business Times.
In his speech, Wray then emphasized that China possesses the capacity to inflict substantial damage to critical US infrastructures, and that the hackers’ plan is to “attack civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic”. A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that Volt Typhoon has no contact with the Chinese government but is part of a criminal group specializing in “ransomware.”