Chinese hackers spent up to 5 years in US networks: Cyber officials

Hackers from the People's Republic of China spent up to five years in U.S. networks as part of a cyber operation that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure, law enforcement and international agencies said earlier this week.

«The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) assess that People's Republic of China (PRC) state sponsored cyber actors are seeking to preposition themselves on IT networks for disruptive or destructive cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure in the event of a major crisis or conflict with the United States,» an alert released by the agencies earlier this week said.

The yearslong operation by the state-sponsored cyber actor — called Volt Typhoon by U.S. authorities — was a way for China to position themselves for an attack on U.S. critical infrastructure using malware, officials said on a call with reporters.

CISA Assistant Director Eric Goldstein said the hackers were in U.S. systems for «up to five years.»

«CISA and its U.S. Government partners have confirmed that this group of PRC state-sponsored cyber actors has compromised entities across multiple critical infrastructure sectors in cyberspace, including communications, energy, transportation, and water and wastewater, in the United States and its territories,» a release about the incident said.

The Chinese cyber actors aimed to «launch destructive cyber-attacks that would jeopardize the physical safety of Americans and impede military readiness in the event of a major crisis or conflict with the United States,» the release said.

Last week, the FBI used a court order to disrupt Volt Typhoon actors from their hacking operation.

The advisory builds upon CISA