FBI budget cuts could thwart US efforts to detect and foil Chinese cyberattacks: official

Warning comes just hours after bureau’s director announces resignation ahead of president-elect Donald Trump’s planned overhaul of agency

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Christopher Wray, the outgoing FBI director, has called the threats posed by Chinese attacks “existential”. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:25am, 12 Dec 2024Updated: 12:10am, 13 Dec 2024

A senior official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday warned that budget cuts could undermine the ability of America’s top federal law enforcement agency to detect and counter Chinese cyberattacks.

“It all highlights the same, which is a giant enterprise that’s focused on being able to compromise American networks”, said Cynthia Kaiser of FBI Cyber on Wednesday.

Kaiser cited alleged mainland efforts known as Salt Typhoon to infiltrate telecommunications companies and steal data from millions of Americans.

“Now you’re seeing it with these Chinese compromises of telecommunications companies,” she added, estimating the ratio of FBI personnel working on such matters was “over 50 to one, and if we get budget cuts, might be 60 or 7o to one”.

Kaiser’s comments offered at a virtual event hosted by The Cipher Brief, a media outlet focused on national security, came just hours after FBI Director Christopher Wray said he would resign before Donald Trump’s administration takes office on January 20.

Kash Patel, a lawyer, is US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Trump earlier hailed Wray’s resignation announcement, saying it was a “great day for America” that will end the agency’s “weaponisation”.