A senior US cyber security official said on Monday that Chinese hackers would almost certainly disable critical US infrastructure such as pipelines and railways in the event of a conflict between the two sides.
In remarks at the Aspen Institute in Washington, Jane Easterly, head of the US Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, said that Beijing is directing huge investments to enhance the ability to sabotage US infrastructure.
"I think this is the real threat that we need to prepare for, focus on and develop an ability to confront," she said, according to Reuters news agency.
Easterly warned that Americans needed to prepare for the possibility of Beijing hackers bolstering their defenses and causing damage in the physical world.
"Given the massive nature of the threat from Chinese state actors, given the scale of their capabilities, and given the resources and efforts they are putting into it, it will be very difficult for us to prevent disruption," she added.
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