China-Backed Hackers Threaten Texas Military Sites, Utilities

(TNS) — A Chinese government-backed hacker group’s apparent plan to upend utilities and communication systems that power U.S. military bases poses a major threat to Joint Base San Antonio — and potentially to the region’s water and electricity customers.

U.S. officials say the group, called Volt Typhoon, has inserted malware — computer code intended to damage or disrupt networks or to covertly collect information — deep in the systems of numerous water and electric utilities that serve military installations in the United States and abroad.

The aim could be to delay a U.S. military response if China’s People’s Liberation Army invades Taiwan. President Joe Biden has said the U.S. military would intervene if China invaded the island nation.

“I would be most concerned about U.S. assets in the Pacific Rim — in South Korea and Japan,” said John Dickson, a San Antonio-based cybersecurity consultant and former Air Force intelligence officer. “But we are Military City, USA, and a sophisticated reader doesn’t have to do too much to connect the dots.”

San Antonio is flush with military personnel and missions. It’s home to Fort Sam Houston, the largest military medical training installation in the U.S., as well as to JBSA-Randolph and JBSA-Lackland Air Force bases.

Lackland trains the service’s incoming airmen and conducts cyber warfare and intelligence-gathering operations at its Security Hill facility.

The National Security Agency’s Texas Cryptologic Center occupies a sprawling campus on San Antonio’s West Side. The center conducts worldwide signals intelligence and cybersecurity operations. Signals intelligence involves collecting, decoding and interpreting electronic communications.

It’s unclear if the networks of the San Antonio Water System or CPS Energy, both owned by the city of San Antonio, are infected with Volt Typhoon’s malware.

CPS, the largest municipally owned utility in the U.S., has 930,000 electric and 381,000 gas customers. SAWS serves 511,000 water and 456,000 wastewater customers. The two utilities’ service areas encompass Bexar County and small swaths of neighboring counties.

“We will continue to…