China is hacking Wi-Fi routers for attack on US electrical grid and water supplies, FBI warns...US infrastructure is vulnerable to Chinese cyberattack, officials warn

"According to the FBI’s Wray, Volt Typhoon is compromising small businesses and home office routers to hide the origin of future Chinese-backed cyber attacks.

“China’s hackers are targeting American civilian critical infrastructure, pre-positioning to cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities in the event of conflict. Volt Typhoon malware enabled China to hide as they targeted our communications, energy, transportation, and water sectors.”

Committee chairman Mike Gallagher said the attacks were the “cyberspace equivalent of placing bombs on American bridges, water treatment facilities and power plants.”"
https://grahamcluley.com/china-is-hacking-wi-fi-routers-for-attack-on-us-electrical-grid-and-water-supplies-fbi-warns/

"Experts tells Scripps News that the issue is complicated by the fact that a large portion of U.S. critical infrastructure is run by private companies.

"Eighty-five percent of America's critical infrastructure is in the hands of the private sector," said Scott White, an associate professor and director of the cybersecurity program at George Washington University.

White said part of the issue is that private enterprise is often in charge of its own cybersecurity.

"We tend not to use punitive legislation to bring these individuals or organizations into some type of cybersecurity portfolio. Other nations, even Western nations, will use legislation. The United States tends to try to incentivize organizations or companies in becoming cyber-compliant to certain standards," White said. "Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.""

""Cybersecurity operates under this kind of emergency room mentality: There's always a fire that needs to be put out," said Nick Merrill, director of the Daylight Lab at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity at the University of California-Berkeley.

He said the online threat posed by Chinese hackers is real.

"We all buy a lot of cheap stuff on Amazon that's made in China. Quite a lot of it is connected to the internet, connected to our home networks, and all of those are also potentially vectors for pre-positioning for an attack," Merrill said. "So, you know this is something that people in cybersecurity have had their eye on for quite some time."

Merrill added that there are some potential cyberattacks that concern him the most."
https://scrippsnews.com/stories/us-infrastructure-is-vulnerable-to-chinese-cyberattack-officials-warn/