Hostile nations engage in daily warfare against the United States, targeting critical military and civilian infrastructure. In the digital realm, these sustained attacks lack the swift and deadly response seen with traditional weapons, revealing ongoing inadequacies in our preparedness.

According to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s presentation in February, the American homeland has faced hacker attacks for the past two decades with minimal effective countermeasures.

Reports from Military.com in May highlighted a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group embedded in crucial U.S. infrastructure, aiming to cause terror and societal panic through cyberattacks. Despite efforts by military leaders, this threat persists without deterrence.

Major General Lorna Mahlock, commander of the Cyber National Mission Force, noted the escalating scope, scale, and sophistication of Chinese cyber activities. The group Volt Typhoon, attributed to Chinese hackers, targeted U.S. bases in Guam in 2023.

Other groups like Clop and Revil have conducted international attacks and targeted specific U.S. states.

Since the infiltration of the U.S. power grid by China and Russia in 2009 and the Russian hack on NASDAQ in 2010, the FBI warned in 2012 that hackers would become the country’s primary threat.

The Department of Homeland Security identifies China-sponsored malicious cyber actors as among the most significant and persistent threats to U.S. national security. Despite these ongoing challenges, the distinction of these acts as terrorism remains contentious, yet the awakened Defense Department is increasingly urged to pursue digital terrorists with the same vigor applied to traditional foreign threats.