Chinese malware in American systems a ‘ticking time bomb’

The malware potentially gives Beijing the ability to disrupt US military operations if it were to move against Taiwan.

New York City’s subway system was targeted by hackers with links to the Chinese government in April 2020. Picture: AFP

The Biden administration believes China has implanted malware in key US power and communications networks in a “ticking time bomb” that could disrupt the military in event of a conflict, The New York Times reported at the weekend.

The NYT, quoting US military, intelligence and security officials, said the malware potentially gave China’s People’s Liberation Army the ability to disrupt US military operations if Beijing were to move against Taiwan at some point.

The systems affected could allow China not only to cut off water, power and communications to US military bases, but also to homes and businesses across America, the newspaper said.

The report comes two months after Microsoft warned that state-sponsored Chinese hackers had infiltrated critical US infrastructure networks.

Microsoft singled out Guam, a US Pacific territory with a vital military outpost, as one target, but said malicious activity had also been detected elsewhere in the US. It said the stealthy attack, carried out since mid-2021, was likely aimed at hampering the US in the event of a regional conflict.

Authorities in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Britain warned at the same time that Chinese hacking
was likely taking place
globally, affecting an extensive range of infrastructure.

Discovery of the malware sparked a series of meetings in the White House Situation Room involving top military, intelligence and national security officials in an effort to track down and eradicate the code, the NYT said. It quoted
one congressional official as saying that the malware operation amounted to “a ticking time bomb”.

AFP