So back in October, The Chinese Ministry of State Security publicly accused the NSA (National Security Agency) of running a multi-year cyberattack campaign against the National Time Service Center and critical infrastructure. The National Time Service Center provides precise timing for China's communications networks, financial systems, power grids, transportation infrastructure, and military operations. If that system goes down, the cascading failures ripple across everything.

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According to Chinese investigators, the operation started way back in March 2022. They claim that NSA operatives exploited vulnerabilities in Chinese staff members phones to steal login credentials.

Beijing presented further details & also named three NSA agents they suspect orchestrated the attacks and added them to a wanted list.

What we typically see is the US pointing a finger at China, and accusing them of malfeasance. The FBI characterizes China as the most active and persistent cyber threat to American infrastructure. And rightfully so. Theres solid evidence of state-sponsored groups hailing from China that have caused serious damage to critical infrastructure here in the States. One major example is Salt Typhoon.

Salt Typhoon is a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group that began infiltrating U.S. telecommunications networks as early as 2022 and wasn't discovered until late 2024. They compromised nine major U.S. telecom providers, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and others. In the process, they stole metadata (call times, phone numbers, IP addresses) from over a million users, particularly in the Washington D.C. area.

The visible part of US-China relations is all handshakes and tariff negotiations. We see the trade delegations and photo ops. All of these public statements about cooperation and mutual respect. But beneath all the diplomatic smile and hand shaking, both nations are engaged in relentless cyberwarfare.

The US publicly accuses China of infiltrating critical infrastructure and stealing intellectual property. China publicly denies it, then turns around and accuses the US of doing the exact same thing. Both seem to be very true. Both sides are constantly probing networks, stealing secrets, pre-positioning access in critical systems, testing vulnerabilities.

But what about escalation? If one side breaches a telecom network, and the other responds by targeting power grids. Where does it go next? Meanwhile, the official representatives shake hands at summits and discuss trade terms like none of it's happening.

We’re not at war necessarily, but there are absolutely skirmishes being had on the “cyber battlefield” (super cringe to say, yes). Neither side acknowledges anything, but it seems both sides are operating under the assumption that everything is already compromised, and the only question is who can exploit it more effectively when it matters.

Thats all for tonight!

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