Federal and state officials warn of nation-state cyber campaigns targeting water, communications and transport

Leslie Kainoa, the Cybersecurity State Coordinator assigned to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), told the Joint Legislative Committee on Information Management and Technology that nation-state actors are actively probing U.S. critical infrastructure and quietly positioning inside networks to enable future disruptive or destructive attacks.

The committee heard that China-linked groups are among the most active adversaries, and that attackers often “live off the land” by using legitimate credentials and routine network activity to avoid detection. Ben Gresgeir, Oregon’s state chief information security officer, told lawmakers that while China accounted for a substantial share of observed malicious traffic, “Russia and everybody else is also a big contributor,” and the state tracks multiple foreign and domestic threat groups.

The warning was accompanied by concrete offers of help. Kainoa…