Cybersecurity

China is ‘Big Threat’ to US Energy Industry, Cybersecurity Official Says

  • ‘We all need to be concerned about’ China, Easterly says
  • Power-grid attacks can cause chaos, Exelon CEO Butler warns
Jen Easterly during the 2023 CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, on March 9.Photographer: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg
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The US energy industry must shore up protection against cyberattacks from China, a more pressing concern than attacks from Russia amid its war on Ukraine, according to a senior government cybersecurity official.

“The big threat we all need to be concerned about is China,” Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said during a dinner event Thursday at CeraWeek by S&P Global. “Russia is the hurricane and China is climate change.”