FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned that the United States is facing unprecedented security threats, and law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep up. Speaking during a visit to Minneapolis, Mr. Wray said he was “hard-pressed to think” of a time when so many different threats faced the country at the same time.
Domestic and international terrorism, foreign election interference, Chinese espionage, and intellectual property theft were named as specific concerns, and Wray has warned about these for several months. Last October, for instance, after the Hamas terror attack on Israel, he said that a multitude of Islamist groups were calling for attacks against Americans, and the threat was higher than at any time since the emergence of ISIS.
The number of terrorists crossing the southern border has also increased dramatically in the past few years. US Border Patrol officials report that 98 people who are listed on the FBI’s terror watchlist came into the United States via the southern border in 2022. This figure grew to 172 in 2022 and 81 between January and April 2024.
Additionally, the FBI recently announced that Iranian officials are hacking the campaign websites of Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in what was described as a “brazen attempt” to interfere with the US Presidential election in November.
Regarding the threat from China, the FBI states that the Chinese government is seeking to become the world’s most powerful nation and is doing so by utilizing corrupt business practices such as intellectual theft and cyber intrusion. The feds say China targets US businesses and educational institutions, and are calling for cooperation across law enforcement agencies and “a whole-of-society response.”
Mr. Wray noted that China is the greatest long-term threat “to our nation’s information and intellectual property, and to our economic vitality.” He explained that the FBI’s priority is building partnerships to counter the growing menace. “You need to have partners sharing information with each other to put the two pieces together to see the bigger picture,” he said.
The FBI Director also mentioned artificial intelligence (AI) and said the United States must work closely with industry leaders to ensure that American AI is designed to protect Americans from international counterparts.
