FBI Director Talks Cyberattacks, Surge in Law Enforcement Fatalities in Rare Interview
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raised the alarm concerning the recent escalation of murders across the U.S. this week, pointing to the pandemic, repeat offenders, and the rise in juvenile crime as potential contributing factors.
In a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, FBI Director Christopher Wray noted the 29 percent rise in murders nationally. He noted the surge in law enforcement casualties could be associated with the violent crime surge, with a 59 percent increase in officer fatalities in 2021.
“Violence against law enforcement in this country is one of the biggest phenomena that I think doesn’t get enough attention. Last year, officers were killed at a rate of almost one every five days,” Director Wray commented, “Wearing the badge shouldn’t make you a target.”
Over the years, public safety has become an increasingly dangerous job; the recent addition of 619 names to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial illustrates this.
Director Wray also discussed the “unprecedented” scale of state-sponsored espionage and cybersecurity attacks. He added that China’s hacking program is pervasive in contrast to other major nations, adding that the FBI opens a new counterintelligence investigation into the nation’s operations approximately every 12 hours.
“They are targeting our innovation, our trade secrets, our intellectual property, on a scale that’s unprecedented in history,” Director Wray furthered, “There’s well north of 2,000 of these investigations. All 56 of our field offices are engaged on it, and I can assure that it’s not because our agents don’t have enough else to do. It’s a measure of how significant the threat is.”
Several high-profile breaches have been linked to China by U.S. intelligence. The Justice Department has charged four Chinese nationals with launching attacks on Microsoft email servers and targeting companies developing COVID-19 vaccines.
As reported by FEDagent, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concluded that China's influence in the international arena poses the most significant threat to America's national and economic security.