David E. Sanger

It means that they're going to a group that has more money to invest on intelligence assets that are trained at a higher level, that have the ability, because they're working in secret, to go out and hire and train much more effective hackers who would not be caught as easily. And they learned many more innovative ways to get into American, European, African, Latin American systems.

It means that they're going to a group that has more money to invest on intelligence assets that are trained at a higher level, that have the ability, because they're working in secret, to go out and hire and train much more effective hackers who would not be caught as easily. And they learned many more innovative ways to get into American, European, African, Latin American systems.

They began to sell telecommunications equipment, as we were discussing earlier, that would enable them to own the infrastructure and therefore get in. And they learned how to be much more effective at stealing master passwords so that they didn't have to actually write code and malware, but instead could pretend like they were legitimate operators inside a system.

They began to sell telecommunications equipment, as we were discussing earlier, that would enable them to own the infrastructure and therefore get in. And they learned how to be much more effective at stealing master passwords so that they didn't have to actually write code and malware, but instead could pretend like they were legitimate operators inside a system.

...was when they got into the Office of Personnel Management at the end of the Obama administration.

...was when they got into the Office of Personnel Management at the end of the Obama administration.

Now, this is seemingly the most boring bureaucracy in Washington, right? They are basically the government's HR manager. And they keep the security clearance files for 22 million Americans who have secret, top-secret, compartmentalized clearances and so forth.

Now, this is seemingly the most boring bureaucracy in Washington, right? They are basically the government's HR manager. And they keep the security clearance files for 22 million Americans who have secret, top-secret, compartmentalized clearances and so forth.

And the Americans who get clearances have to fill out these enormously detailed forms that describe their financial condition, their medical histories, every relationship they've been in. every foreigner they've ever met and had long interactions with. So this is not just your name and your social security number. This is the details of your life.

And the Americans who get clearances have to fill out these enormously detailed forms that describe their financial condition, their medical histories, every relationship they've been in. every foreigner they've ever met and had long interactions with. So this is not just your name and your social security number. This is the details of your life.

And obviously, for Chinese intelligence officials, if they could get that kind of understanding of the American elite who are working on every classified project, it's enormously beneficial.

And obviously, for Chinese intelligence officials, if they could get that kind of understanding of the American elite who are working on every classified project, it's enormously beneficial.

And much as in this most recent hack, they were inside the Office of Personnel Management for a year before anyone even knew that they were stealing the files, encrypting them, and broadcasting them back to Beijing.

And much as in this most recent hack, they were inside the Office of Personnel Management for a year before anyone even knew that they were stealing the files, encrypting them, and broadcasting them back to Beijing.

Well, this is the great mystery that the CIA's new or relatively new China operation is constantly trying to figure out, that the NSA is trying to figure out. So there are a couple of theories. The first theory is they just want a complete map of everybody in the U.S. who works in the national security sphere and access to what they do. So it's, first of all, for great intelligence gathering.

Well, this is the great mystery that the CIA's new or relatively new China operation is constantly trying to figure out, that the NSA is trying to figure out. So there are a couple of theories. The first theory is they just want a complete map of everybody in the U.S. who works in the national security sphere and access to what they do. So it's, first of all, for great intelligence gathering.

The second thing they're beginning to do, though, is learn how to plant their malware into critical infrastructure in the United States that may enable them to turn off water pipelines or electric grids if they got into a direct conflict with the US. And we really saw this last year, 2023, with the Chinese hacking group named Volt Typhoon.

The second thing they're beginning to do, though, is learn how to plant their malware into critical infrastructure in the United States that may enable them to turn off water pipelines or electric grids if they got into a direct conflict with the US. And we really saw this last year, 2023, with the Chinese hacking group named Volt Typhoon.

It's a different group than the group that was just caught inside the telecom system. But their purpose was to be able to get into the utilities that feed American bases in Guam.

It's a different group than the group that was just caught inside the telecom system. But their purpose was to be able to get into the utilities that feed American bases in Guam.