The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released its first Homeland Threat Assessment in October, citing some of the major threats posed by countries such as China and Russia, including cybersecurity, foreign influence, and others. Homeland Security Secretary Wolf called China a long-term strategic threat to the United States.
When the American people look at this assessment, they will be more aware of the traditional threats the country faces, such as terrorism and organized crime,” Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad F. Wolf said in a statement. However, I think they will also realize that our country faces significant threats from nation-states like China, Russia, and Iran.”
Chinese Threats
The report cited the United States as facing potential threats from China in areas including cybersecurity, foreign influence, supply chains, and more.
On Tuesday (Oct. 6), Wolff tweeted, “The threat from China will be the most long-term strategic threat to Americans, the U.S. homeland, and our way of life.”
The report said, “China already poses a high cyber-espionage threat to the U.S. homeland, and Beijing’s cyber-attack capabilities will increase.”
The report also notes that Chinese cyber participants will continue to engage in extensive cyber espionage to steal intellectual property and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from U.S. businesses and government agencies to promote their civil-military industries, gain economic advantage, and support intelligence operations. China’s threat and potential ability to disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure is increasing.
DHS anticipates that Chinese cyber operations against U.S. companies will focus on critical manufacturing, the defense industrial base, energy, healthcare, and transportation sectors.
It is also likely that China is waging a disinformation campaign to shift responsibility for the New Crown outbreak to countries such as the United States. Since August 2019, more than 10,000 suspected fake Twitter accounts have engaged in an influence campaign allegedly linked to the Chinese government.
The report mentions that in the run-up to the U.S. election, China will likely continue to use influence operations to discredit the U.S. government and its policies and to shape the domestic information environment in the U.S. in China’s favor. China will further use its traditional “soft power” influence toolkit to push U.S. policies to better align with China’s interests.
The report also states that China is also attempting to build influence over state and local leaders through direct and indirect means. Chinese officials believe that U.S. state and local officials enjoy a degree of diplomatic independence and may use these relationships to advance policies that serve China’s interests in times of tension.
The assessment noted that China and Russia remain the greatest threat to the integrity of the U.S. supply chain because they can use advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities to penetrate trusted suppliers and vendors to target equipment and systems. Criminals can also disrupt supply chains by inserting malicious code into third-party software to attack companies that use it.
In this report, the Department of Homeland Security also mentions threats from China in areas such as medical supplies. During the Neocrown outbreak, the U.S. seized more than 1 million FDA-banned Neocrown test kits and 750,000 counterfeit masks from illegal Chinese manufacturers. The report also warns that China has been concerned about shortages of medical supplies in the United States and says that China may use these shortages to force the government to adopt policies that are more favorable to China.
The assessment also warns that China may continue to use U.S. academic institutions and the visa system to divert valuable research and intellectual property, a move that would harm U.S. interests.
The report also cited China’s violations of U.S. trade policy and said that despite progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations, the actions of Chinese criminal organizations will remain a major challenge for the U.S. in enforcing trade laws and policies in the coming year.
In an interview with CBS News, Wolfe said the Chinese threat is multifaceted: “From the cyber threats we see, from foreign influence, to supply chain security, use of our academic and visa systems, foreign investment in the U.S., trade policy violations and more. It’s never ending ……”
He said, “By all accounts, threat after threat, we see China playing a very important role in trying to really do some long-term damage to the United States.”
Zack Cooper, a senior fellow at the Enterprise Institute, a U.S. think tank, believes the report is largely a good and objective assessment of the threats facing the U.S. homeland.
It seems to be based more directly on the findings of the intelligence community than on recent statements by senior officials,” he told VOA. Much of this information is already in the public domain, but it would be helpful for the U.S. government to compile much of it into an official assessment, and it would be more accessible to the public.”
He added: “The United States will have to make it a priority in its relations with Beijing in terms of how to deal with these issues. This means that other types of bilateral cooperation will be contingent on China’s efforts to address these issues.”
The Russian threat
The Department of Homeland Security report also cites a variety of threats to the United States from Russia, in addition to those faced by the United States. The 26-page report states that Russia has some of the most advanced cyber capabilities in the world and can disrupt critical U.S. infrastructure networks through cyber attacks.
The report states that “Russian state-affiliated actors will continue to target U.S. industry and all levels of government with invasive cyber espionage to obtain economic, policy, and national security information to advance Russia’s strategic interests,” and that Russia has the ability to conduct such attacks for hours or even days on end.
The Department of Homeland Security also lists Russia as a major source of disinformation and “Russia is likely a major domestic U.S. covert influencer and provider of disinformation.”
In addition, this assessment mentions that Russia may be attempting to influence the U.S. election and use its cyber influence to influence the views of U.S. voters. “Moscow’s primary goal is to undermine the U.S. electoral process, to weaken the United States through discord, division, and distraction, and to hopefully diminish the U.S. ability to challenge Russia’s strategic objectives.
We will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections, nor will we tolerate criminal activity that threatens the sanctity of the vote or undermines public confidence in election results,” FBI Director Chris Wray said in a speech Tuesday.”
Violent Extremism and Other Threats
In addition to the priority threats posed to the United States by countries such as China and Russia, the assessment cites ideologically driven lone offenders and small groups as the most likely terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland, while domestic violent extremists pose the most persistent and deadly threat.
The report states that violent extremists will continue to exploit public fears of a neo-crowning epidemic and social discontent to promote legitimate protests, incite violence, intimidate targets, and promote their violent extremist ideology. Violent extremist media will almost certainly spread violent extremist ideology, especially through social media, to encourage violence and influence action within the United States.
The report also notes that “Among domestic violent extremists, racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists – particularly white supremacist extremists (WSEs) – will continue to be the most persistent and deadliest group in the United States. threats.”
In addition, the report mentions that transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), illegal immigration also have the potential to threaten U.S. national security interests, and natural disasters including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires will also remain an ongoing threat to the United States.
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