FBI warns states of threat posed by Chinese hackers

A senior FBI official warned state officials Thursday of the threat posed by Chinese hackers to the security of American states and of a potential rise in Chinese cyber activity in 2023.

Cyber Division Deputy Assistant Director Cynthia Kaiser told the National Association of Secretaries of State conference in Washington, D.C., that "we could see more significant Chinese cyber activity against your states in the coming year," CNN reported.

Kaiser also acknowledged that Russian cyber actors pose a comparable security threat but indicated there was little intelligence suggesting Moscow intended to escalate its own efforts against the U.S. at the state level.

"We don't have any intelligence that Russia is looking to target state and local or election systems more directly than before. But we're certainly aware of … the possibility and have a very low threshold for sharing that information," she said.

Scrutiny of Chinese espionage and cyber efforts comes amid recent fallout over the flight of a suspected Chinese spy balloon across the United States before the military shot it down off the coast of the Carolinas.

China denies the existence of an extensive hacking program that Washington has contended dwarfs that of other nations.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.