Protecting the United States from cyber threats must be a team effort, the chairman of a U.S. House subcommittee on digital innovation said in a statement after a Chinese-sponsored attack was revealed.
Wisconsin Republican U.S. House Rep. Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, issued his statement the day after reports were published about cyber attacks sponsored by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on U.S. infrastructure in Guam.
"Everyone - from our Armed Services to banks, telecoms, and transportation industries, and CISA, FBI, and NSA - must be vigilant and work together to address these vulnerabilities and counter malign actions taken by our adversaries against what keeps our military and our country running,” Gallagher said in his May 25 statement.
His statement referred to Department of Homeland Security revelations that "a Chinese state-sponsored entity" was "actively hacking and compromising American critical infrastructure," targeting communications, transportation and maritime systems, in particular focused on Guam, "where US military mobility for the Indo-Pacific is absolutely vital to our security," the statement said.
"The Select Committee on the CCP reported to the House today a series of recommendations, one of which is the dire need to enhance the cyber resiliency of US critical infrastructure, especially as it relates to national defense readiness," the statement concluded.
Gallagher's statement linked to a CNBC news story published May 24 that referred to Microsoft's warning about a hacking group code-named "Volt Typhoon" attacking U.S. infrastructure and that has been operating since 2021.
"Microsoft has uncovered stealthy and targeted malicious activity focused on post-compromise credential access and network system discovery aimed at critical infrastructure organizations in the United States," the corporation stated in its advisory. "The attack is carried out by Volt Typhoon, a state-sponsored actor based in China that typically focuses on espionage and information gathering."
National Security Agency's Cybersecurity Advisory provided information about the tactics employed by Volt Typhoon. The advisory emphasized the group's adept use of a technique known as "living off the land," which allows the group to seamlessly blend unnoticed into Windows systems without being noticed.
The advisory also lists tools the group uses that are already available on systems, such as netsh and PowerShell.
"Today's advisory highlights China's continued use of sophisticated means to target our nation's critical infrastructure, and it gives network defenders important insights into how to detect and mitigate this malicious activity," Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said in her own statement.
