Britain and US sound alarm over growing Chinese cyber threat

US and British officials warned on Tuesday of a growing cyber threat from China, with the White House cyber director saying Beijing was capable of causing havoc in cyberspace and a UK spy agency chief warning of an “epoch-defining” challenge. Anxiety has been increasing in the United States and Europe about alleged Chinese cyber and espionage activity, but Beijing has denied the accusations. “China poses a genuine and increasing cyber risk to the UK,” Anne Keast-Butler, director of Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) eavesdropping agency, told a security conference in the central English city of Birmingham. She said the response…