FIGURE OUT IS LIKE A FAUCET OVERFLOWING IN THE SINK AND SHE'S OUT THERE WITH A MOP. >>> FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY SOUNDING THE ALARM OVER CHINA. LET'S LISTEN. >> THREATEN AMERICA'S SAFETY AND PROSPERITY. BEFORE I GO ON, I DO WANT TO MAKE VERY CLEAR THAT MY COMMENTS TODAY ARE NOT ABOUT THE CHINESE PEOPLE AND CERTAINLY NOT ABOUT CHINESE-AMERICANS WHO CONTRIBUTE MUCH TO OUR COUNTRY AND ARE FRANKLY, OFTEN THE VICTIMS OF CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY THEMSELVES. RATHER, WHEN I TALK ABOUT THE THREAT POSED BY CHINA I MEAN THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA IN PARTICULAR LED BY THE CCP. THE CCP'S DANGEROUS ACTIONS, CHINA'S MULTI-PRONGED ASSAULT ON OUR NATIONAL AND ECONOMIC SECURITY MAKE IT THE DEFINING THREAT OF OUR GENERATION. WHEN I DESCRIBED THE CCP AS A THREAT TO AMERICAN SAFETY A MOMENT AGO I MEANT THAT QUITE LITERALLY. THERE HAS BEEN FAR TOO LITTLE PUBLIC FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT PRC HACKERS ARE TARGETING OUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. OUR WATER TREATMENT PLANTS, OUR ELECTRICAL GRID, OUR OIL AND NATURAL GAS PIPELINES, OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AND THE RISK THAT POSES TO EVERY AMERICAN REQUIRES OUR ATTENTION NOW. CHINA'S HACKERS ARE POSITIONING ON AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE IN PREPARATION TO WREAK HAVOC AND CAUSE REAL WORLD HARM TO AMERICAN CITIZENS AND COMMUNITIES IF AND WHEN CHINA DECIDES THE TIME HAS COME TO STRIKE. THEY'RE NOT FOCUSED JUST ON POLITICAL AND MILITARY TARGETS. WE CAN SEE FROM WHERE THEY POSITION THEMSELVES ACROSS CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT LOW BLOWS AREN'T JUST A POSSIBILITY IN A CONFLICT AND LOW BLOW POSSIBILITIES ARE PART OF CHINA'S PLAN, BUT THE PRC'S CYBER ONSLAUGHT GOES BEYOND PRE-POSITIONING FOR FUTURE CONFLICT. TODAY AND EVERY DAY THEY'RE ATTACKING OUR ECONOMIC SECURITY ENGAGING IN WHOLESALE THEFT OF INNOVATION WITH THE PERSONAL AND CORPORATE DATA AND THE ONLY PRC THREAT WE FACE. THE PRC CYBER THREAT IS MADE VASTLY MORE DANGEROUS BY THE WAY THEY KNIT CYBER INTO THE WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST US. THEY RECRUIT HUMAN SOURCES TO TARGET OUR BUSINESSES USING INSIDERS TO STEAL THE SAME KINDS OF INNOVATION AND DATA THAT THEIR HACKERS ARE TARGETING WHILE ALSO ENGAGING IN CORPORATE DECEPTION, HIDING BEIJING'S HAND IN TRANSACTIONS, JOINT VENTURES AND INVESTMENTS TO DO THE SAME AND THEY DON'T JUST HIT OUR SECURITY AND ECONOMY. THEY TARGET OUR FREEDOMS REACHING INSIDE OUR BORDERS ACROSS AMERICA TO SILENCE, COERCE AND THREATEN SOME OF OUR CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS. I CAN ASSURE YOU THE FBI IS LASER FOCUSED ON THE THREAT MADE BY BEIJING. WE HAVE CYBER, COUNTERINTELLIGENCE, CRIMINAL AND WMD EXPERTS JUST TO NAME A FEW DEFENDING AGAINST IT, AND WE'RE WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR ALLIES ABROAD AND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ALL LEVELS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ESPECIALLY THE NSA AND CYBER COMMAND AND CSA AND ONCD WHOSE LEADERS I AM HONORED TO BE WITH HERE TODAY. IN FACT, JUST THIS MORNING, WE ANNOUNCED AN OPERATION WHERE WE AND OUR PARTNERS IDENTIFIED HUNDREDS OF ROUTERS THAT HAD BEEN TAKEN OVER BY THE PRC STATE-SPONSORED HACKING GROUP KNOWN AS VOLT TYPHOON. THE VOLT TYPHOON MALWARE ENABLED CHINA TO HIDE, AMONG OTHER THINGS, PRE-OPERATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE AND NETWORK EXPLOITATION AGAINST CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE OUR COMMUNICATIONS, ENERGY, TRANSPORTATION AND WATER SECTORS, STEPS CHINA WAS TAKING, IN OTHER WORDS, TO FIND AND PREPARE TO DESTROY OR DEGRADE THE CIVILIAN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE THAT KEEPS US SAFE AND PROSPEROUS. AND LET'S BE CLEAR, CYBER THREATS TO OUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE REPRESENT REAL WORLD THREATS TO OUR PHYSICAL SAFETY. SO WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS, THE FBI RAN A COURT-AUTHORIZED ON-NETWORK OPERATION TO SHUT DOWN VOLT TYPHOON AND THE ACCESS IT ENABLED. THIS OPERATION WAS AN IMPORTANT STEP AND THERE IS A WHOLE LOT MORE TO DO AND WE NEED YOUR HELP TO DO IT, TO QUANTIFY WHAT WE ARE UP AGAINST THE PRC HAS A BIGGER HACKING PROGRAMN THAT OF EVERY MAJOR NATION COMBINED. IN FACT, IN FACT, IF YOU TOOK EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE FBI'S CYBER AGENTS AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS AND FOCUSED THEM EXCLUSIVELY ON THE CHINA THREAT, CHINA'S HACKERS WOULD STILL OUTNUMBER FBI CYBER PERSONNEL BY AT LEAST 50 TO 1. SO AS WE SIT HERE, WHILE IMPORTANT BUDGET DISCUSSIONS ARE UNDER WAY, I WILL NOTE THAT THIS IS A TIME TO BE KEEPING AHEAD OF THE THREAT BY INVESTING IN OUR CAPABILITIES RATHER THAN CUTTING THEM. WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT WE SUSTAIN AND BUILD ON THE GAINS THAT WE'VE MADE THAT HAVE ENABLED US TO TAKE ACTIONS LIKE THE VOLT TYPHOON OPERATION I JUST MENTIONED. THE BUDGETS THAT EMERGE FROM DISCUSSIONS UNDER WAY NOW WILL DICTATE WHAT KIND OF RESOURCES WE HAVE READY IN 2027, A YEAR THAT AS THIS COMMITTEE KNOWS ALL TOO WELL THE CCP HAS CIRCLED ON ITS CALENDAR AND THAT YEAR WILL BE ON US BEFORE YOU KNOW IT. AS I'VE DESCRIBED, THE PRC IS ALREADY TODAY PUTTING THEIR PIECES IN PLACE. I DO NOT WANT THOSE WATCHING TODAY TO THINK WE CAN'T PROTECT OURSELVES, BUT I DO WANT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO SLEEP ON THIS DANGER. AS A GOVERNMENT AND A SOCIETY, WE'VE GOT TO REMAIN VIGILANT AND ACTIVELY DEFEND AGAINST THE THREAT THAT BEIJING POSES, OTHERWISE CHINA HAS SHOWN IT WILL MAKE US PAY. THANK YOU. I LOOK FORWARD TO TODAY'S DISCUSSION. >> THANK YOU, SIR. DIRECTOR COKER, YOU ARE RECOGNIZED FOR YOUR OPENING STATEMENT. >> CHAIRMAN GALLAGHER. >>> THAT WAS FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY WITH A MORE STARK AND STERN WARNING THAN I'VE EVER HEARD FROM HIM. >> I AGREE. >> -- ON CHINA AND THE THREAT POSED BY CHINA AND SPECIFICALLY CHINESE HACKERS. HE SAYS THAT CHINA IS ACTIVELY ATTACKING OUR ECONOMIC SECURITY NOW AND HE WARNED -- GREATER WARNINGS OF WHAT THEY ARE PREPARING TO DO AND THEY ARE CALLING FOR WHAT HE CALLS, LOW BLOWS, LOW BLOWS ARE PART OF CHINA'S PLAN, WATER TREATMENT PLANTS, ELECTRICAL GRID, INTERNET ROUTERS AND COMMUNICATIONS AND IN TERMS OF HOW OUT MATCHED THE UNITED STATES IS. >> IF YOU TOOK EVERY ONE OF THE FBI CYBER AGENTS AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS AND FOCUSED THEM EXCLUSIVELY ON THE THREAT FROM CHINA, CHINA'S HACKERS WOULD STILL OUTNUMBER FBI CYBER PERSONNE
