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class=\"stickybar__details\" readability=\"4.952380952381\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__info js-sticky-bar-content\" readability=\"32\">\n<p>Voting is open for the 2024 CyberScoop 50 awards! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a class=\"stickybar__link button button-tertiary\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyberscoop50\/vote\/\">Click here!<\/a> <\/div>\n<p> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.529950083195\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.186046511628\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/cybersecurity\/\"> <span>Cybersecurity<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> CISA director calls CrowdStrike-linked outage a \u201cdress rehearsal\u201d for what China may have planned for U.S. critical infrastructure. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> Jen Easterly, director of the Homeland Security Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, testifies during a hearing by the House (Select) Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Committee on Capitol Hill on January 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"39.4747910488\"><body readability=\"80.102423542989\"><\/p>\n<p>LAS VEGAS \u2014 The faulty CrowdStrike Falcon update that caused <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/crowdstrike-falcon-flaw-microsoft-outage-flights-grounded-windows\/\">millions of computers around the world to malfunction<\/a> was \u201ca useful exercise\u201d for understanding what Chinese-linked cyber operations focused on sensitive U.S. networks could accomplish, a top U.S. cybersecurity official said Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p>Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told a large crowd at the annual Black Hat cybersecurity conference that the fallout of the CrowdStrike situation \u2014 which disrupted medical care, canceled flights and shuttered retailers \u2014 showed what effects Chinese-linked activity tracked as <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/tag\/volt-typhoon\/\">Volt Typhoon<\/a> could generate. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was going through my mind was that, oh, this is exactly what China wants to do, but without rolling back the updates such that we could all reboot our systems,\u201d Easterly said during a keynote address alongside top cybersecurity officials from the U.K. and Europe. <\/p>\n<p>Volt Typhoon is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/2023\/05\/24\/volt-typhoon-targets-us-critical-infrastructure-with-living-off-the-land-techniques\/\">Microsoft-given name<\/a> for suspected Chinese cyber activity targeting critical infrastructure organizations in the United States. Officials from the U.S. and other western countries have, for more than a year, <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/feds-chinese-hacking-operations-have-been-in-critical-infrastructure-networks-for-five-years\/\">warned that the Chinese-linked group<\/a> aims to pre-position cyber capabilities in key networks to be able to disrupt operations in the event of military conflict or crisis involving China.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The operators are \u201cembedding in our critical infrastructure, specifically not for espionage or data theft or IP theft, but to launch disruptive or destructive attacks in the event of a major conflict in the Taiwan Strait,\u201d Easterly said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA war in Asia will be accompanied by very serious threats to Americans \u2014 the explosion of pipelines, the pollution of water systems, the derailing of our transportation systems, the severing of our communications,\u201d Easterly said. These operations, she added, aim to incite panic and undermine the ability of the United States to marital its military capabilities. <\/p>\n<p>The Chinese government has consistently denied it is preparing for such operations, alleging that Volt Typhoon is a U.S. disinformation campaign to frame China.<\/p>\n<p>Easterly\u2019s comments came in response to a question about the CrowdStrike incident during a keynote discussion of election security efforts that also included Felicity Oswald, head of the U.K.\u2019s National Cyber Security Centre, and Hans de Vries, the chief operational officer for the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).<\/p>\n<p>The trio discussed their respective agencies\u2019 efforts to build resilience within election systems in the face of disinformation, distributed denial of service or ransomware attacks, as well as technical software failure or disruptions in the wake of the CrowdStrike incident.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Easterly told reporters in a conversation after the keynote panel that China is a top cyber threat to the U.S. across the board. <\/p>\n<p>Volt Typhoon activity has targeted a range of critical infrastructure sectors and is \u201clikely just the tip of the iceberg,\u201d Easterly said. \u201cAnd there is, we believe, much we are not seeing.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>She said improving the resilience of digital ecosystems is key to withstanding disruptions and addressing the hacking threat posed by China and more quickly recover from outages. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a terrible incident,\u201d Easterly said, referring to the CrowdStrike update, \u201cit was a useful exercise \u2014 a dress rehearsal for what China may want to do to us.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.1280991735537\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"8\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"AJ Vicens\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by AJ Vicens<\/h4>\n<p> AJ covers nation-state threats and cybercrime. He was previously a reporter at Mother Jones. Get in touch via Signal\/WhatsApp: (810-206-9411). <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 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{"id":4748,"date":"2024-08-07T15:05:47","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T20:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=81336"},"modified":"2024-08-07T15:05:47","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T20:05:47","slug":"easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/07\/easterly-crowdstrike-incident-highlights-consequences-of-chinese-hacking-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"Easterly: CrowdStrike incident highlights consequences of Chinese hacking threat"},"content":{"rendered":"