U.S. accuses hackers of targeting systems
WASHINGTON >> The United States imposed sanctions Monday on Chinese hackers and accused them of working as a front for Beijing's top spy agency, part of a broad effort to place malware in U.S. electric grids, water systems and other critical infrastructure.
The sanctions were a major escalation of what has become a heated contest between the Biden administration and Beijing.
While there have been no cases in which the Chinese government has turned off essential services, U.S. intelligence agencies have warned in recent months that the malware appeared to be intended for use if the United States were coming to the aid of Taiwan.
By turning off critical services to military bases and to civilian populations, China would try, according to a series of intelligence findings, to turn Americans inward — worrying about their own supplies of electricity, food and water rather than assisting a distant island that Beijing claims as its own.
The sanctions were part of a joint effort between the United States and Britain to crack down on Chinese hacking into vital services.
In announcing the measures, the Treasury Department described malicious state-sponsored cyberactors as “one of the greatest and most persistent threats to U.S. national security.”
The sanctions were unveiled as the Justice Department announced charges against seven Chinese nationals accused of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud.
Snow, rain and gusting winds lashed large swaths of the Central U.S. on Monday, dashing spring hopes, as the South braced for thunderstorms and possible tornadoes and as the risk of wildfires in southern Texas reached critical levels.
The storm hit with parts of the country still in recovery mode from their own severe weather, particularly in the Northeast. Tens of thousands of people still lacked power in Maine, where a storm coated parts of the state in thick ice.
The new storm was expected to bring strong winds, sleet, freezing rain and snow to a broad swath from the Dakotas to the Gulf Coast through Tuesday.
“A lot of people get excited because they think the spring is coming in and the winter's over, but since I've been little, every time there's that one last snowstorm that we always get, and here it is,” said Jarvis Smith, of Golden Valley, Minnesota, as she shoveled snow.
Warnings or advisories for blizzard or winter storm conditions covered much of Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, upper Michigan, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
In northern parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, snow could fall as fast as 2 inches per hour, the National Weather Service said.
Wind warnings or advisories stretched from Iowa to Appalachia and down to the Gulf Coast. Severe thunderstorms with a threat for tornadoes and other damaging winds were possible in east Texas and the Lower Mississippi Valley. Strong storms, some producing tornado warnings, had already made their way through parts of Oklahoma and Texas on Sunday night.
The new storm was largely expected to spare the Twin Cities area, which was socked Sunday by heavy snow. The state patrol reported about 400 crashes since Sunday that injured over 20 people and killed at least one.
In South Dakota, traffic moved slowly overnight along a section of Interstate 29 where trucks struggled to make it up a slick hill. Conditions remained slippery in the eastern third of the state, but no fatal accidents were reported.
Road conditions were treacherous throughout central Nebraska, where up to 8 inches of snow was expected through Tuesday. Several inches of snow had already fallen by midday Monday. A long stretch of Interstate 80 was closed in both directions.
Weather officials in south Texas warned of gusty, dry conditions that could rapidly spread any fires.
Repair crews in Maine had succeeded in cutting outages from 200,000 over the weekend to less than 100,000 Monday morning.