The report would be the most detailed disclosure yet by the US government of the hackers’ stealthy techniques, one aimed at helping private owners of critical infrastructure spot the Chinese hackers in their networks. The hackers’ presence in critical US networks has sparked a monthslong effort by US national security officials to kick the hackers out. The report, which US officials are set to release this week, makes clear that the Chinese hackers’ activity began much earlier than previously known, with the hackers scoping and accessing IT systems years ago. The Beijing-backed hackers have been probing systems that control heating, cooling and water, access that, if exploited, could allow them to manipulate those systems and cause “significant infrastructure failures,” the report says. Canada’s cybersecurity agency “assesses that the direct threat to Canada’s critical infrastructure” from the Chinese hackers “is likely lower” than that to US infrastructure, but that Canada would still likely still be affected by a disruption to US infrastructure due to “cross-border integration,” the document says.

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Persons: Christopher Wray, Canada’s, “ Organizations: CNN, FBI, US, Embassy, National Security Agency, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency Locations: Beijing, China, Taiwan, Washington ,, Guam, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Pacific