US Accuses China of Long-Running Cyber Espionage Campaign Targeting Critical Infrastructure

According to recent developments, the United States has confronted the Chinese government regarding a widespread cyber espionage campaign known as Volt Typhoon. This initiative, which has been ongoing for some time, allows Chinese hackers to gain access to numerous critical infrastructure organizations in the US. The Chinese authorities were challenged about this matter by high-ranking American cyber officials during a meeting in Beijing last month. Previously, China has rejected similar allegations, describing them as baseless. During a talk at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, Nathaniel Fick, the US Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, stated that discussions regarding this issue had taken place at a senior level between American officials and their Chinese counterparts, and that this behaviour constitutes a danger, escalation, and is undesirable. When asked about the Chinese response, Fick remarked that it was consistent with their previous reactions to similar accusations, stating that it was simply a ploy by various US agencies to obtain additional financial resources. At present, it remains uncertain precisely how many US organisations have fallen victim to these hackers, although Brandon Wales, the Executive Director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, claimed that any figure provided would most likely be an underestimation. Wales went on to state that Chinese efforts to compromise critical infrastructure in the US were broad-based, affecting both smaller and medium-sized businesses that might either have critical roles within specific supply chains or the capacity to cause societal disruption in certain parts of the country. (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in San Francisco; editing by Matthew Lewis)