Governor Greg Abbott recently signed an executive order to strengthen Texas’ defenses against alleged Chinese government threats to its vital systems. The goal of this activity is to safeguard the state’s water, wastewater, energy, transportation, and communication infrastructure. Abbott’s edict notably mentioned previous incidents of the Chinese endangering national security amid worries about foreign threats. Abbott informed the Office of the Texas Governor, “China has made it clear that they can and will target and attack America’s critical infrastructure.”
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) are required by the governor’s directive to assess state and local governments as well as other vital facilities for possible vulnerabilities. “Texas will continue to protect our critical infrastructure to ensure the safety of Texans from potential threats by the Chinese Communist Party or any hostile foreign government,” with an unnecessary article before “Chinese Communist Party,” was a regrettable typographical error that was evident in the governor’s statement. A post on the Governor of Texas’ official website included this quotation.
A number of preemptive steps are scheduled to be taken in accordance with Governor Abbott’s directives. To identify vulnerabilities and develop mitigation recommendations, a task team has been formed. In order to improve response tactics and the execution of preventive measures, cyberattack simulations targeting important Texas industries are also planned. The reboot of Texas’ electrical infrastructure in the wake of a fictitious foreign attack will be simulated by another group.
“The Governor also ordered the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas to create a secure, dedicated communications channel for telecommunication and electrical infrastructure companies for use to prioritize load requests during a critical grid incident,” according to Governor Abbott, a statement that is essential to the state’s readiness. According to the Governor of Texas, this comes after previous executive orders that targeted CCP meddling in Texas and FBI alerts from Houston alerting Texans to the PRC’s purported efforts to target and harass Chinese dissidents in the state.
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