Is This Chinese Company Watching the World to Train its AI?

The story of Meari Technology reveals how insecure-by-design IoT infrastructure, global surveillance exposure, and China’s tech ecosystem are converging into a new model of AI-enabled data power.

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Cybersecurity Strategy in China’s 15th Five-Year Plan

China’s high-level cyber strategy for the next five years continues the effort to build a cyber superpower, outlining more detailed requirements

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The Tianfu Cup Returns Under MPS Leadership as AI Takes Center Stage

After a two-year hiatus, the Tianfu Cup returns under MPS lead, combining AI-assisted vulnerability discovery and exploitation, a new competition track, and less transparency in vulnerability handling

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Provincial Tasking, Cross-Provincial Execution: A Case-Based Look at How China Scales Cyber Operations

How decentralized MSS and MPS tasking and market-enabled, cross-provincial execution by commercial firms shape the scale of China’s cyber operations

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China’s 2025 Top 20 Cybersecurity Companies: Which “Dark Horses” Will Emerge to Prominence in 2026?

Annual ranking reveals hyper-competitive, innovation-focused top performers – some familiar and some not so well known, with extensive government ties

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The Many Arms of the MSS: Why Provincial Bureaus Matter in China’s Cyber Operations

Provincial bureaus of the Chinese Ministry of State Security likely operate with their own tasking priorities, resources, and local ecosystems for cyber operations

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Beyond the Aliases: Decoding Chinese Threat Group Attribution and the Human Factor

Examining the overlap between APT27, HAFNIUM, and Silk Typhoon through recent U.S. government disclosures, and why understanding the humans behind the keyboard is important for cyber defenders

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Salt Typhoon: New Joint Advisory Offers a Beacon Through the Storm but Stirs Up New Questions

Analysis of newly identified Salt Typhoon-linked companies casts light on the complex ecosystem of front companies and real businesses supporting Chinese state cyber operations

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Few and Far Between: During China’s Red Hacker Era, Patriotic Hacktivism Was Widespread—Talent Was Not

Inside the small, elite circles that powered China’s massive hacker communities in the late 1990s and 2000s.

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HAFNIUM-Linked Hacker Xu Zewei: Riding the Tides of China’s Cyber Ecosystem

How one man’s career reveals the interconnected web of China’s state security apparatus, cybersecurity firms, and strategic industries

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Butian Vulnerability Platform: Forging China's Next Generation of White Hat Hackers

From 'Trouser Belt Project' to 'Patching the Sky': Qi An Xin’s Butian platform serves as cradle for nurturing new talent and smelter for refining seasoned hackers’ skills

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Defense-Through-Offense Mindset: From a Taiwanese Hacker to the Engine of China’s Cybersecurity Industry

The belief that offense enables defense in cyberspace, first rooted in China’s 1990s hacker culture, has since permeated the country’s cyber ecosystem

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From Humble Beginnings: How a Vocational College Became a Vulnerability Powerhouse

Qingyuan Polytechnic's focus on vulnerability studies highlights China's continued efforts in gathering vulnerability resources

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From the World of “Hacker X Files” to the Whitewashed Business Sphere

Jiang Jintao’s journey from hacker to infosec entrepreneur illustrates the blend of ambition, skill, and changes in China's cybersecurity industry

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Ransom-War and Russian Political Culture: Trust, Corruption, and Putin's Zero-Sum Sovereignty

Recent Western government revelations about EvilCorp flesh out how Russian ransomware actors and the Russian government use each other to navigate a world they perceive as dangerous.

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Wars without Gun Smoke: China Plays the Cyber Name-and-Shame Game on Taiwan and the U.S.

China’s security services have called out hackers of an alleged “Internet Army of Taiwan Independence” and of the U.S. National Security Agency, signaling an increasingly confrontational approach

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Indictments and Leaks: Different but Complementary Sources

A case study of the i-SOON indictment and leaks reveals that source information may vary but it is important to compare and evaluate information for unique insights.

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Zhou Shuai: A Hacker’s Road to APT27

US-sanctioned, allegedly APT27-associated actor Zhou Shuai represents a group of Chinese elite hackers who have become an important resource for Chinese state cyber operations.

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Where is i-SOON Now?

i-SOON’s business struggles after the leak reflect the cruel reality of China’s hacker-for-hire industry

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The Pangu Team—iOS Jailbreak and Vulnerability Research Giant: A Member of i-SOON’s Exploit-Sharing Network

A year after the i-SOON leaks, a deep dive into the Pangu Team reveals new insight into the relationships between elite vulnerability researchers and government-contracted hackers

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Chasing Chengdu404, Sichuan Silence....and NoSugar Technology !?

On the ground research on US sanctioned cyber security companies in China.

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Sichuan Silence Information Technology and Guan Tianfeng: Your Criminal Our Hero

Even before DeepSeek's debut sparked pride among Chinese netizens, US sanctions on Sichuan Silence developer Guan Tianfeng triggered online vows to "march forward" in cyberpower competition

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Salt Typhoon: the Other Shoe Has Dropped, but Consternation Continues

Sichuan Juxinhe, directly involved in the Salt Typhoon cyber operations, resembles a front company of the Chinese Ministry of State Security

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Chengdu: Teahouses, Hotpots, Universities and … Hackers

Chengdu’s leisure lifestyle, education and talent resources have contributed to the city becoming a hacking hub

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Sichuan Silence Information Technology: Great Sounds are Often Inaudible

Formerly very public, Sichuan Silence has gone quiet since 2020; but as part of a circle of Chengdu-based jack-of-all-trades infosec companies, it serves the state in cyber-enabled operations

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Business Priorities of Chinese Cyber Range Providers Go Hand in Hand with State Cyber Capability Development

China’s cyber range market booms, fueled by the state’s demand for developing capable cyber talent and improving the effectiveness of “attack and defense live-fire capability”

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