Chinese hackers continue to target US COVID-19 research, warns FBI Director

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray on Thursday asserted that Chinese hackers are continuing to target the United States companies involved in COVID-19 research. He described China as the nation’s 'greatest counterintelligence threat' while testifying to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during a hearing on threats to the US.

'Greatest counterintelligence threat'

"We are seeing very aggressive activity by the Chinese, and in some cases by others, to target our COVID-related research, whether it's vaccines, treatments, testing technology, etc.", Wray was quoted as saying by an American website The hill.

"Sometimes, without being too descriptive in an open setting, we can almost track a news report from some company or research institution that is announcing or revealing some progress ... and then almost within days we will see cyber targetting that ties back to Chinese actors focusing on those institutions," he added.

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'Chinese hackers have stolen PII of half the adult population in US'

Emphasizing on the ways that the Chinese were targetting the US companies, the FBI Director said, rather than innovate themselves, they are trying to essentially jump to the front of the line by stealing information from others. Wray further maintained that the counterintelligence threat posed by Chinese targetting the US companies was a major issue for the agency, testifying that the FBI was pursuing more than 2,000 active investigations tied to Chinese government activities and that economic espionage investigations tied to China had increased 1,300 percent in the past decade.

The Chinese are targeting not just American companies, American research institutions, but also similar institutions among some of our closest allies, and targeting PII, (personally identifiable information) of Americans, Wray testified. He further added that the Chinese hackers have essentially stolen the PII of about half the adult population of the United States.

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(With inputs from ANI)