(Bloomberg) — A top U.S. spy chief says China is increasingly using its companies to find vulnerabilities in its own computer networks and then leveraging that knowledge to target foreign nations and industries.
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“We are really seeing China be very aggressive,” said General Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency and head of Cyber Command, in an interview with Haslinda Amin on Bloomberg Television.
In response, the US is “working quickly with any number of nations to expose, wherever possible, what vulnerabilities exist in systems and also Chinese actions to take advantage of that,” Haugh added in Friday’s interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue. in Singapore.
In March, the US, UK and New Zealand accused China of sponsoring malicious cyber activities targeting democratic institutions. London and Washington said Beijing-backed hackers have targeted politicians, businesses and dissidents for years and stolen British voter data.
China also finds itself the victim of cyber attacks from the US and its allies, and routinely rejects accusations of computer hacking. Beijing specifically challenged the US, UK and New Zealand claims earlier this year, calling them “baseless and irresponsible”.
Read: China spy agency sees threats everywhere in data security push
President Xi Jinping’s government said it faces “unprecedented risks and challenges” in safeguarding national secrets and has stepped up training in government agencies, universities and state-owned companies on how to safeguard state secrets.
China also recently began a broad reorganization of its cyber forces, announcing that it will close the Strategic Support Force that was created more than eight years ago to improve capabilities in space, cyber, political and electronic warfare. Instead, Xi’s government is creating a new branch called the Information Support Force.
Haugh succeeded retired Gen. Paul Nakasone as head of the NSA and Cyber Command earlier this year. Before taking on these roles, Haugh warned about the threats AI could pose to the 2024 elections and China’s potential exports of AI technology to control civilian populations.
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