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Amid the escalation of the trade war between the US and China, including the increase in duties to 125% by Washington and 84% in response by Beijing, cybersecurity experts are expressing concern. They believe that China’s next step may be to retaliate in cyberspace, The Register reports .
Tom Kellerman, a cybersecurity adviser, told The Register that China is likely to activate so-called typhoon campaigns, which are cyberattacks that have been in the works for a long time. According to him, Chinese hacker groups, including Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon, have already penetrated critical US infrastructure and could launch large-scale attacks at any time.
Annie Fixler, Director of the Centre for Technology and Cybersecurity Innovation at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, expressed a similar position. She stressed that China is purposefully preparing cyber assets for future crises, especially in the event of an escalation around Taiwan.
Against the backdrop of these developments, experts have also recorded a sharp increase in phishing attacks on ordinary citizens. According to Luigi Lenguito, CEO of BforeAI, more than 300 cases of registration of malicious domains related to customs were recorded in the first three months of 2025 alone. The most common are fake messages on behalf of delivery services that demand payment of a “customs fee” to receive a parcel.
In general, analysts believe that cyberwarfare is becoming the main instrument of geopolitical pressure in the 21st century, and the situation with the US-China tariffs only accelerates its development.
