A former official for the Pentagon recently revealed that China is conducting a cyber espionage campaign against the U.S.
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby appeared on Fox News, where he discussed the U.S. and U.K.’s allegations against China, with both countries accusing the Chinese government of launching a cyber espionage campaign targeting American institutions, infrastructure, the mainstream media and political dissidents.
Officials from the U.S. and U.K. accused a hacking group called “APT31” of being involved with China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). Among those targeted as part of China’s cyber espionage campaign were White House staffers, U.S. senators, British parliamentarians and government officials worldwide who have criticized the Chinese government.
Feb 2024: The US Gov’t confirmed China compromised US-Infrastructure via cyber attacks…to include *TRANSPORTATION*
CISA and its U.S. Government partners have confirmed that this group of PRC state-sponsored cyber actors has compromised entities across multiple critical… https://t.co/Flya4EBn2G pic.twitter.com/CM2UMu0npu
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) March 27, 2024
Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Colby to comment on the issue. In response, the former Pentagon official said nothing is changing although China is sanctioned by the U.S.
“I mean the striking thing about all of this is that actually Beijing and Xi Jinping are not changing anything they are doing,” Colby told Ingraham. “They are continuing the cyber espionage you pointed to. They are continuing the extraordinary military buildup. There’s just a mock-up of Taiwan’s presidential palace that came up on Twitter.”
“They’re water cannoning the Filipinos in the South China Sea,” Colby added.
Colby then cited an article by the Wall Street Journal, which indicated that China is taking a “delete America approach” regarding business.
“And, more to the point, I mean the Journal was reporting today that actually, the message from China is, ‘Yeah, business can come back, but on China’s terms,’” Colby said. “They are shifting more to what they call a ‘delete America approach.’ So you’ve got Tim Cook of Apple saying everything is fine and dandy, but the Chinese aren’t giving that impression.”
After placing sanctions against China, the U.S. recently claimed that MSS worked with Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, Limited (Wuhan XRZ) to permit Chinese hackers to hide several malicious cyber operations, according to the Daily Caller.
During a press conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice (DOJ) would not “tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses.”
