Cyber Threat to US Critical Infrastructure: Dangers in ‘Weakest Links’

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS — As the cyber threat environment grows more complex and daunting by the day, the U.S. intelligence community is racing to bolster cybersecurity defenses at the government level, while also  working with local officials to safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure – its water systems, electric grids, communications networks and more. The latter effort may be the harder part, given that experts say many U.S. infrastructure entities have dangerously thin cyber defenses. And all too often, the security of these systems is only as strong as their weakest, most permeable links. 

The latest major episode involved the breach of top telecommunications companies by Chinese hackers, which U.S. officials believe was aimed at accessing national security information. Officials said earlier this month that a group of hackers known as Salt Typhoon, allegedly linked to Chinese intelligence, had penetrated the networks of AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies — three of the largest U.S. internet service providers. Investigators believe the hackers were targeting wiretap warrant requests for federal surveillance information.