Chinese cyber threat now represents a major threat to national security, say U.S. officials

Based on testimony from top U.S. law enforcement and national security officials in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Chinese cyber threat to the United States appears to be much greater and more extensive than originally thought. According to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Chinese intelligence agencies are becoming much more sophisticated in how they conduct spying activities in the realm of cyber espionage. They are engaging a variety of different players – ranging from counterintelligence officials posing as diplomats to “for hire” cyber syndicates – in order to carry out the massive and systematic theft of state secrets, trade secrets, data and valuable intellectual property.

The evolving Chinese threat

In fact, so advanced and persistent has the Chinese cyber threat become, says FBI Director Christopher Wray, that China should now be viewed as the “most severe counterintelligence threat” to the United States.