Against the backdrop of China being labeled as "the greatest espionage threat democracy has ever faced," Guam is intensifying its efforts to bolster cybersecurity defenses.

Top intelligence officials from the U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, collectively known as the "Five Eyes Alliance," have emphasized the unprecedented scale of China's cyber theft activities.

During a group interview with CBS News' 60 Minutes, FBI Director Christopher Wray highlights China's extensive efforts to compromise various sectors,

"There's no country that presents a broader, more comprehensive threat to our ideas, our innovation, our economic security and ultimately our national security. We have seen efforts by the chinese government, directly or indirectly, trying to steal intellectual property, trade secrets, personal data, all across the country. We're talking everything from fortune 100 countries, to small start ups. We're talking agriculture, health care, robotics, aviation, academic research. We probably have somewhere in the order of 2-thousand active investigations that are just related to the Chinese government's effort to steal information.”

Meanwhile, at the University of Guam, the National Guard hosted an expanded Central Pacific Cybersecurity Forum, a follow-up to the initial conference held in July.

The event brought together federal partners from the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to discuss cybersecurity measures.

Lieutenant Colonel Bum Jin Park, the Guard's Chief Information Officer, stressed Guam's crucial role in defending digital infrastructure, particularly due to the significant underwater cable network connecting Guam to the U.S. mainland.

“We're at the forefront when it comes to the digital, the infrastructure that we have. there's a lot of underwater cable going through Guam to the u.s. mainland. so we're all the way out here defending our homeland, because even our network traverses through the island to the US mainland. So that's one of the other reason why, that Guam is at the forefront when it comes to why we have to build those cyber security measures very strong here, we're at the forefront.”

Although much of the information shared at the forum was classified, officials emphasized the importance of building cyber capacity, training skilled experts, and implementing robust security controls.

Colonel Park emphasized the need for collaboration between agencies, critical infrastructure departments, and continuous monitoring to detect and respond swiftly to cyber threats.