Cyber Actors Preparing to Exploit Critical US Infrastructure: Intelligence Chief

Malicious cyber actors are ramping up attacks on critical infrastructure, infiltrating U.S. systems in preparation for a major conflict, according to a senior government official on May 2. There was a 74 percent increase in the number of cyber-attacks globally in 2023, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said. Most of those attacks targeted U.S. healthcare and industrial control systems. “Cyber actors are attacking U.S. industrial control systems which are typically used to automate industrial processes at record levels,” Ms. Haines said during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “These actors put a premium on preparing offensive capability during peacetime, in part by preemptively planting footholds in our infrastructure.”...