By Alex Willemyns
U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that creates new rules to bolster security at American ports, while also committing $20 billion to shift away from the use of Chinese-made cranes that officials are at risk of being seized remotely and shut down.
The rules follow a warning from FBI Director Christopher Wray last month that Chinese hackers had burrowed into key American infrastructure and were waiting to “wreak havoc” if ordered by Beijing, potentially to try to break public support for the U.S. defense of Taiwan.
Biden signed the executive order on Wednesday. On Tuesday night, officials told reporters the decision was made due to fears that hackers could cause economic and social chaos by seizing and disabling the advanced cranes used at ports around the United States.
“America’s prosperity is directly linked to maritime trade,” the White House said in a statement, noting that ports were a conduit for $5.4 trillion worth of economic activity a year, employed some 31 million Americans and received 95% of all cargo imports.
But Rear Adm. Jay Vann, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command, told reporters that more than…
