Chinese Hackers Could Control Your Water – And Are Ambushing You: FBI – Global X Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ:BUG), First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ:CIBR)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director says Chinese state-sponsored hackers are orchestrating sophisticated attacks that could “wreak havoc” on U.S. critical infrastructure christopher ray Said.

“Everything from water treatment facilities and energy grids to transportation and information technology forms the backbone of our society,” he told attendees Thursday at the Summit on Modern Conflict in Nashville. told.

What would happen if something like that were attacked? Ray warned that such a scenario could occur at any time.

“China is positioning its vast hacking enterprise for more than 'just' outrageous theft — remember, 50-to-1,” he added. “They use their mass and numbers to give themselves the ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of their choosing.”

Wray urged private companies to “be on high alert” and play a “central defense role in generating critical intelligence about what adversaries are doing or intending to do against us.” asked them to fulfill the following.

Three notable OT startups

according to wedbush Analyst Taz Koujargi, Ray's comments are “not at all alarming.” These highlight the growing importance of OT (operational technology) specialists.

The following three companies come to mind:

• Dragos Co., Ltd. is “one of the major pioneers in the OT field,” Koujargi told Benzinga. The Hanover, Maryland-based company has raised about $440 million in venture capital to date.
• based in new york Clarotihas raised more than $635 million to date and secured an additional $100 million in support last month.
• and based in San Francisco Nozomi Networks Last month, the company secured another $100 million in funding, bringing its total to more than $260 million.

Currently, most of the “security spending” occurs in traditional IT infrastructure areas, Kujargi said. “However, the actual infrastructure, such as pipelines, power grids, and water treatment facilities, is far behind in investment and security spending.”

Funding in the OT subsector is also particularly difficult given the overall decline in venture support.

Another challenge: This type of infrastructure attack is “fairly new” and “fast-moving.”

Koujargi explained that new software is being created every day, and bad actors regularly find holes in software, putting five-year-old code at risk of becoming obsolete.

In short, it's hard to keep pace with the bad guys.

SEE ALSO: Resurgence of Russian online influence threatens US election — Star Blizzard hacking activity escalates, warns Microsoft

Who is the bad guy?

Remember how enterprise security analysts behaved in 2023? Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Western intelligence agencies have revealed how a state-sponsored Chinese hacker group known as Bolt Typhoon was spying on various critical infrastructure organizations in the United States.

China and the United States routinely spy on each other. But analysts say the incident was one of China's most extensive cyber espionage operations against U.S. critical infrastructure.

In March, China dismissed the alleged cyber attack as “pure political maneuvering”.

Lin Jiang A Chinese Foreign Ministry official called on the United States to “cease its own cyber aggression against China.”

But, Wray said, Bolt Typhoon “has persistent access to China… They use a tactic known as 'persistence' to lurk within our networks.” I was there. That is, by exploiting built-in tools that already exist on the victim's network, which are tools that network defenders expect to be used, they can detect malicious activity while not arousing suspicion. was operating a botnet to further hide the fact that it was coming from China. All of this is aimed at giving the Chinese government the ability to wait for the right moment to deliver a devastating blow. ”

And it's not just China. There's also a group of hackers called DarkSide, which was blamed for a cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline in 2021 that led to its complete shutdown.

In the same year, a cyber attack occurred on Iran's heavily guarded Natanz factory. The disruption reportedly delayed Tehran's nuclear program by nine months. Neither the United States nor Israel acknowledged any involvement in what appeared to be subversive activities.

ETFs to consider: Here are five cybersecurity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to keep an eye on.

• Amplify ETF Trust Amplify Cybersecurity ETF (NYSE:Huck)
• First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ:CIBR)
• iShares Cybersecurity and Technology ETF (NYSE:IHAK)
• WisdomTree Cybersecurity Fund (NASDAQ:WCBR)
• Global X Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ:BUG)

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