Between Wednesday’s euphoric market reaction to the administration’s narrowed focus on a trade war with only China and the Friday’s quiet surrender exempting Chinese-made computers and smartphones from the President’s reciprocal [sic] tariffs, there was a story on Thursday about the astonishing disconnect between Trump’s belligerence and the nation’s vulnerability.
This Wall Street Journal article turns surreal when it describes recent Trump actions that make the nation more vulnerable. It is as if the reporter was at a loss for words; or perhaps afraid.
In Secret Meeting, China Acknowledged Role in U.S. Infrastructure Hacks
A senior Chinese official linked intrusions to escalating U.S. support for Taiwan
WASHINGTON—Chinese officials acknowledged in a secret December meeting that Beijing was behind a widespread series of alarming cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring how hostilities between the two superpowers are continuing to escalate.
The Chinese delegation linked years of intrusions into computer networks at U.S. ports, water utilities, airports and other targets, to increasing U.S. policy support for Taiwan, the people, who declined to be named, said.
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In the months since the meeting, relations between Washington and Beijing have sunk to new lows, locked in a historic trade war. Top Trump administration officials have said the Pentagon will pursue more offensive cyber strikes against China. Beijing has continued to mine its extraordinary access to U.S. telecommunications networks enabled by a separate breach, attributed to Salt Typhoon, U.S. officials and lawmakers say.
The administration also plans to dismiss hundreds of cybersecurity workers in sweeping job cuts and last week fired the director of the National Security Agency and his deputy, fanning concerns from some intelligence officials and lawmakers that the government would be weakened in defending against the attacks.
Also?
Officials say Chinese hackers’ targeting of civilian infrastructure in recent years presents among the most troubling security threats facing the Trump administration.
“China wants U.S. officials to know that, yes, they do have this capability, and they are willing to use it,” ...
The final quote is from someone who works at SentinelOne, an NYSE listed firm that specializes in cybersecurity. On Wednesday, President Trump also issued an executive order that directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to suspend security clearances for anyone who works there because one of its employees “falsely and baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen.”
On Apr. 3, Trump also fired several senior staff members of the National Security Council.
The Cyber Safety Review Board, which published a profoundly disturbing report during the Biden administration about Chinese penetration of Microsoft’s online services, was examining China’s Salt Typhoon attack when Trump abolished it, also.