From Vietnam to Volt Typhoon: How the PRC Refined Grey Zone Cyber Tactics Before Targeting the West

The international landscape faces increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks operating in the "grey zone". State-sponsored threat actors, particularly those linked to the People's Republic of China (PRC), have demonstrated alarming capabilities not only for espionage but increasingly to pre-position disruptive abilities within critical infrastructure, potentially for use in the event of a major geopolitical conflict. These actors maintained persistent and undetected access. Compromises have now been publicly confirmed across nearly every critical infrastructure sector in the United States. They are also known to operate within the infrastructure of key allied and partner nations across both the West and Asia. Additionally these intrusions have been found in virtually every major global shipping canal both conducted through covert cyber operations and legitimate business venues.