This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here with your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert, diving straight into the hottest chaos from the past seven days ending February 23, 2026. Buckle up—China-linked hackers are flexing hard, exploiting old wounds and new flaws like it's a cyber buffet.

First off, TechCrunch dropped a bombshell today: back in February 2021, Chinese hackers snuck a secret backdoor into Pulse Secure's VPN software—now under Ivanti—compromising 119 organizations, including U.S. and European military contractors. Mandiant spotted it early, but private equity cuts at Ivanti post-2017 Clearlake acquisition gutted security know-how, leaving doors wide open. Fast-forward, CISA forced federal agencies to yank Ivanti VPNs in early 2024 over zero-days, and last year another Connect Secure flaw got pwned. Sectors hit? Defense, government, you name it—classic supply chain sabotage.

Not done yet: CISA's emergency directive this week mandates patching Dell RecoverPoint's CVE-2026-22769, a hardcoded credential mess exploited since mid-2024 by suspected Chinese actors dropping Grimbolt backdoors in VMware backups. Critical infrastructure's sweating bullets. Then there's BeyondTrust's CVE-2026-1731, a 9.9 CVSS remote code exec flaw patched February 6. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 reports active abuse—web shells like China Chopper echoes, SparkRAT, VShell droppers—for data theft and ransomware across finance, healthcare, government in the U.S., France, Germany, Australia, Canada. Hacktron AI flagged 11,000 exposed instances; GreyNoise saw scans post-PoC.

Targeted sectors? Healthcare got hammered—University of Mississippi Medical Center ransomware shut clinics statewide, FBI's on it. Hospitality too, with ShinyHunters hitting Wynn Resorts for $1.5M ransom. New vectors? Stealthy persistence via config stomping, API chaining, and deep infra compromises like virtualization layers, per a fresh study on AI-driven attacks breaching in 72 minutes. Chinese state actors love that long-game lurking.

U.S. responses? CISA's patching frenzies and KEV updates scream urgency. No big diplomatic blasts this week, but it's echoing warnings like ex-NSA chief Mike Rogers on Chinese solar inverters phoning home past firewalls.

Expert recs from Unit 42 and CISA: Patch now—Ivanti, Dell, BeyondTrust, Honeywell CCTV's auth bypass. Enforce MFA everywhere, hunt weak creds on firewalls like Fortinet's 600+ breaches (though that was Russian AI, lesson sticks). Segment networks, monitor for VShell or Grimbolt IOCs, and diversify threat intel despite China's January ban on Palo Alto, CrowdStrike—don't let geopolitics blind you.

Witty wrap: Dragons aren't breathing fire; they're picking locks while we bicker over keys. Stay vigilant, listeners—patch like your data depends on it.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here with your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert, diving straight into the hottest threats from the past seven days ending February 22, 2026. Buckle up, because China's hackers are playing 4D chess while we're still patching zero-days.

First off, Google’s Threat Intelligence team and Mandiant dropped a bombshell: a suspected China-linked espionage crew has been exploiting CVE-2026-22769, a critical zero-day in Dell’s RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines, since mid-2024. They snuck in stealthy backdoors like BRICKSTORM and GRIMBOLT, plus a webshell called SLAYSTYLE, for long-term network lurking. Targeted sectors? Virtualization heavyweights, hitting IT admins where it hurts. No official US gov response yet, but CISA's KEV catalog vibes suggest they'll add it pronto—Luke McNamara from Google warns the defense industrial base is now prime for disruption, not just spying.

Over in Taipei, the iconic Grand Hotel got hit with a cyber attack on February 22, per Taiwan News, with investigations probing possible customer data theft. Hospitality joins the hit list, right as Poland bans Chinese-made cars from military sites over data exfil fears from integrated systems. And don't sleep on Notepad++—its update channel was hijacked in a state-sponsored op linked to China, announced February 2 but rooted in a June 2025 vuln, as Hive Systems details. Attackers turned a dev's favorite tool into a supply chain trojan horse.

New vectors? Firmware-level persistence, like Keenadu backdoor on Android tablets from Kaspersky's probe—pre-installed during manufacturing, likely China-adjacent supply chains harvesting data silently. Add January's lingering buzz: Chinese state-linked hackers compromised Downing Street aides' mobiles for years, Eurasia Review exposes that dualism where Beijing preaches cyber peace but deploys chaos.

US responses? Air Force brass at the Air and Space Forces Association symposium this week, with Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach and Secretary Troy Meink pitching China countermeasures amid National Defense Strategy shifts—experts like Todd Harrison from AEI slam the geriatric fleet as unprepared for PRC air defense. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's pushing wartime footing for acquisitions.

Expert recs to shield your ops: Patch Dell RecoverPoint yesterday—Mandiant urges multi-factor everywhere. Segment networks, hunt for BRICKSTORM artifacts with Google TAG tools. For supply chains, vet firmware like your life depends on it—Kaspersky says audit Android loaders. Barracuda's XDR report screams: Lock down identity, third-party access, and perimeters. Tod Beardsley from runZero says use CISA KEV smarter, not as panic fuel.

Stay frosty, listeners—China's digital dragons are stealthier than ever, but with these moves, you can clip their wings.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here with your weekly China cyber alert. Things have been absolutely spicy in the digital realm, and we've got some major developments that'll make your security team want to pull their hair out.

Let's dive straight in. According to CYFIRMA's Weekly Intelligence Report from this week, Volt Typhoon, the Chinese state-sponsored cyber-espionage crew that's been operational since 2021, is still absolutely embedded in critical US infrastructure. These folks are sophisticated, patient, and obsessed with zero-day vulnerabilities. They've been systematically compromising telecommunications, defense contractors, and government networks with stealth tactics that would make a ninja jealous.

The really concerning part? Mandiant, Google's incident response team, confirmed that China-nexus operators have been actively exploiting a Dell RecoverPoint vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-22769 since at least mid-2024. This isn't theoretical anymore—it's real, it's happening right now, and the US government is panicking. CISA just ordered all federal agencies to patch this hardcoded credential flaw within three days. Three days! That's how serious this is. Attackers have been using this vulnerability to deploy nasty tools like Brickstorm and Grimbolt backdoors, and they've even created ghost NICs on virtual machines to hide their lateral movement across compromised networks.

But wait, there's more. A cluster called UNC6201 has been leveraging this same Dell vulnerability to maintain persistence in US systems, while another Chinese-linked group is actively exploiting CVE-2026-1731 in BeyondTrust Remote Support software across the financial services, healthcare, and technology sectors in the US, France, Germany, Australia, and Canada. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 has detected these attacks being used for web shell deployment, command and control infrastructure, and straight-up data theft.

Here's the kicker—the Philippine military reported this week that China-based hackers are intensifying their cyberattacks against their nation, and the pattern is consistent everywhere: reconnaissance, persistence, then lateral movement to steal everything.

So what should you do? First, patch everything immediately. Don't wait for perfect conditions. Second, monitor for unusual network activity, especially on your virtual infrastructure. Third, implement proper network segmentation because these attackers move laterally like water finding cracks in concrete. And fourth, assume you're already compromised and hunt for indicators of compromise.

Thanks for tuning in to your weekly China cyber alert. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss these critical updates. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey there, I'm Ting, and welcome back to Digital Dragon Watch. Let me cut right to it because this week's China cyber news is absolutely wild.

So picture this: somewhere around mid-2024, a Chinese state-backed group called UNC6201 found a critical vulnerability in Dell RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines and just... kept it secret. For nearly two years. They exploited CVE-2026-22769, which is basically a hardcoded administrator password that Dell pulled from Apache Tomcat. It's a perfect ten on the severity scale, and these guys have been using it to burrow into dozens of US organizations without anyone noticing.

Here's where it gets spicy. Google's Mandiant team discovered these attackers deployed something called Brickstorm, a nasty backdoor that sits on appliances without traditional security tools. The clever part? By September last year, UNC6201 swapped Brickstorm out for something even sneakier called Grimbolt. This new malware is written in C-Sharp and compiles directly to machine code, making it nearly impossible to analyze statically. It's like watching a magician improve their sleight of hand.

But the real innovation here is how they're moving through networks. Mandiant observed UNC6201 creating what researchers are calling Ghost NICs—phantom network interface cards on VMware virtual machines. Imagine adding invisible doors to someone's house so you can slip in and out without anyone noticing. They're also deploying something called Slaystyle, which is a web shell, giving them multiple backdoors into victim networks.

Now here's the government response. CISA, the NSA, and Canada's Centre for Cyber Security have all jumped in with indicators of compromise and detailed analysis. They're basically saying to anyone running these Dell systems: patch immediately. Dell finally disclosed this on Tuesday after the fact, which tells you how long this vulnerability has been flying under the radar.

What's terrifying is that researchers suspect UNC6201 overlaps significantly with UNC5221, also known as Silk Typhoon. These aren't random hackers—these are suspected Chinese government-backed operations focused on long-term espionage and potentially sabotage of critical infrastructure.

The kicker? Mandiant estimates there are probably way more victims who don't even know they've been compromised yet. The dwell time in some networks exceeded four hundred days. That's over a year of undetected access to critical US systems.

Experts are saying the same thing: patch everything, implement network segmentation, and get endpoint detection and response tools on edge devices. This campaign is a masterclass in patient, persistent espionage.

Thanks for tuning in to Digital Dragon Watch. Make sure you subscribe for next week's alert. This has been a Quiet Please production. For more, check out quietplease dot ai.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, I'm Ting, and welcome back to Digital Dragon Watch. This week has been absolutely wild in the China cyber space, so let's dive right in.

First up, we've got some serious drama unfolding with the US government potentially reversing course on Chinese tech restrictions. The Register broke the story that the Federal Register briefly published an updated list of designated Chinese Military companies, and it included some absolute heavyweights like Alibaba, Baidu, and BYD. But here's where it gets spicy—the list vanished within hours after a government agency requested its withdrawal. Pentagon spokespeople say a revised version is coming soon. Reuters is reporting that the administration might actually lift bans on Chinese telcos operating in the US and could walk away from plans to block TP-Link products. This is a complete 180 from the Trump administration's Clean Network policy that launched in 2020. Experts suspect this move is pure negotiating chess ahead of a planned Trump-Xi meeting.

Now, let's talk about actual attacks happening right now. According to Check Point Research's latest threat intelligence bulletin, we're seeing Microsoft zero-day vulnerabilities under active exploitation by nation-state actors including Salt Typhoon. BeyondTrust Remote Support has also been hit hard with CVE-2026-1731, a remote code execution flaw affecting thousands of instances. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, ordered federal agencies to patch this within three days as of Friday. The Register reports that around eleven thousand BeyondTrust instances were exposed online, with eighty-five hundred being on-premises deployments. This is particularly concerning because Salt Typhoon previously breached the US Treasury Department two years ago using similar BeyondTrust exploits.

Here's something that should keep you up at night: Interpol's cybercrime director Neal Jetton, speaking from their Singapore operations, called the weaponization of AI by cybercriminals the biggest threat he's seeing. Neal emphasized that the sheer volume of attacks is expanding exponentially, and criminals are using sophisticated AI to create deepfake videos of government officials endorsing scam investments.

On the defensive side, India just announced strict new rules requiring social media platforms to detect and remove AI-generated intimate content within two hours. Singapore announced a thirty-billion-dollar tech fund for national AI missions. And according to ASPI Strategist, Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made headlines by directly naming China as the threat when discussing Taiwan, which actually boosted her credibility heading into recent elections.

The bottom line is we're watching a massive shift in geopolitical positioning around AI and cybersecurity. China's becoming more aggressive, the US is reconsidering restrictions, and allied nations are scrambling to build sovereign capabilities. It's a fascinating, terrifying moment in tech history.

Thanks so much for tuning in to Digital Dragon Watch. Make sure you subscribe for next week's breakdown of these evolving threats. This has been a Quiet Please production. For more, check out quietplease dot ai.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here with your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert, diving straight into the hottest chaos from the past seven days ending February 15, 2026. Buckle up—China's hackers are flexing hard, turning cyber into a multiplayer deathmatch.

First off, Google's Threat Analysis Group and Mandiant dropped a bombshell: Chinese APT5, aka Keyhole Panda or Mulberry Typhoon, alongside UNC3236 Volt Typhoon and UNC6508, are slamming the global defense sector. They're wielding custom malware like INFINITERED, ARCMAZE obfuscation, and REDCap exploits at US research institutions, plus sneaky Operational Relay Box networks to blend malicious traffic with legit stuff. Targets? North American defense contractors, supply chains, edge devices in aerospace, semiconductors, energy, and battlefield tech. Espionage goldmine, stealing IP and credentials while we sleep. Rescana's report nails it—these ops converge with Russian Sandworm, North Korean Lazarus, and Iranian Nimbus Manticore for a full-spectrum beatdown on the defense industrial base.

Not stopping there: Schneier on Security flagged AI coding assistants—used by 1.5 million devs—secretly shipping every line of code they touch straight to China. Dated February 2, but the fallout's rippling now. And Chinese gov-linked hackers Trojaned Notepad++ on February 5, dropping malware on select users. Supply chain sabotage at its sneakiest.

Over in Singapore, the Cyber Security Agency revealed UNC3886—China-nexus APT—breached all four major telcos: M1, SIMBA Telecom, Singtel, and StarHub last year, but probes deepened into 2026, hitting critical infrastructure. Help Net Security confirms it spurred a massive defense op. Stateside, SecurityWeek notes ongoing China threat actor attacks amid Russia, NK, Iran crews.

New vectors? AI-driven recon, edge device exploits, ORBs evading geofencing, and SaaS weak spots—echoed in Washington's AI security freakout per Brussels Morning, where DHS warns of adaptive malware hitting finance, elections, defense. No direct US gov response named this week, but Anthropic's Dario Amodei slammed Nvidia's China chip push, calling it like handing nukes to bad actors.

Expert recs from Mandiant and Rescana: Layer up with EDR spotting obfuscated payloads, segment networks, audit edge devices and supply chains, validate job offers (Dream Job scams everywhere), hunt for Google Forms/WhatsApp malware drops, train staff on phishing/vishing, and enable IP allow-lists, MFA, log monitoring. Defense peeps, threat hunt like your drones depend on it.

Luxury alert: Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany Korean subs fined $25M by PIPC for SaaS breaches—malware, phishing, vishing stole millions of customer records due to no IP controls or bulk download limits. ShinyHunters vibes, but China angle looms in the broader SaaS hunt.

Listeners, stay vigilant—dragons don't sleep. Thanks for tuning into Digital Dragon Watch! Subscribe for more, and this has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here with your weekly China cyber alert, and let me tell you, the past few days have been absolutely wild in the digital threat landscape.

Let's jump straight into it. China just dropped some serious regulatory hammer. Their amended Cybersecurity Law took effect on January first, and the penalty structure is no joke. We're talking fines ranging from ten thousand to two million yuan for breaches, with personal liability hitting up to two hundred thousand yuan. But here's what really got my attention: the law now gives Beijing enforcement power against foreign entities operating outside China's borders if they're jeopardizing Chinese cybersecurity. That's a massive expansion of their reach, and multinational companies better be reviewing their compliance programs immediately before enforcement actions hit in twenty twenty-six.

Now, on the offensive side, things are getting genuinely concerning. Leaked documents obtained by NetAskari and reviewed by Recorded Future News reveal China's been operating something called Expedition Cloud, basically a secret training platform where operatives practice launching cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in neighboring countries. We're talking power grids, energy transmission, transportation systems, and smart home infrastructure. The really creepy part? Artificial intelligence is playing a major role in orchestrating these simulated attacks. According to Dakota Cary, a cybersecurity specialist at SentinelOne, these documents provide an incredibly rare insight into Chinese cyberattack methodology.

Speaking of AI abuse, Google just published research showing state hackers from China, Russia, and Iran are using Gemini across all stages of attacks. Chinese threat actors are getting the AI to act as cybersecurity experts, conducting vulnerability analysis and penetration testing plans against US targets. We also learned through Reuters reporting that some cybersecurity firms like Palo Alto have actually dialed back attribution claims about China-linked hacking campaigns, which honestly feels like a troubling trend given the geopolitical environment.

On the defensive front, it's not all doom and scroll. The Trump administration paused several China tech security measures ahead of an April summit with Xi Jinping, putting holds on bans affecting China Telecom's US operations and restrictions on Chinese data center equipment. Critics are understandably nervous about this timeline, especially considering US data center capacity is expected to grow nearly one hundred twenty percent by twenty thirty.

Florida's also entered the arena with Attorney General James Uthmeier launching the CHINA Prevention Unit on February fifth. They're using existing consumer protection laws to target companies with foreign adversary ties collecting sensitive data from residents. Healthcare's ground zero right now, with medical device manufacturers already receiving audit demands.

So what should you be doing? Review your data storage practices, get transparent about foreign server locations, and if you're running critical infrastructure or handling sensitive data, assume you're on Beijing's radar.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here with Digital Dragon Watch, your weekly China cyber alert hotter than a Sichuan hotpot. Over the past seven days ending February 11, 2026, China's hackers have been flexing like it's Olympic season, but with more zero-days and less fair play.

Kicking off with the big breach down under—well, Singapore, actually. The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore just dropped that Chinese espionage crew UNC3886 infiltrated all four major telcos: M1, SIMBA Telecom, Singtel, and StarHub. These sneaky foxes used zero-days in firewalls and rootkits for persistence, swiping technical data last year but no customer info, thank goodness. CSA spent 11 months evicting them, per their official report. Google Threat Intelligence echoes this, noting UNC3886's love for edge devices in defense industrial base hits, topping espionage volume against US aerospace and contractors over two years.

Then there's leaked docs from Recorded Future revealing China's "Expedition Cloud" platform, where PLA types rehearse smashing critical infrastructure of South China Sea and Indochina neighbors—like virtual dry runs for blackouts and chaos. Chilling prep work, straight from the source code cache.

Ransomware front? ReliaQuest pins China-linked Storm-2603, tied to Warlock ops, exploiting SmarterMail's CVE-2026-23760 for admin takeovers. They chain it with Velociraptor for C2—legit DFIR tool turned evil twin—and MSI payloads from Supabase. No full encrypt yet, but it's staging for pain, hitting email servers ripe for probing.

Targeted sectors? Telecoms, defense supply chains, manufacturing—anywhere edge gear like Ivanti or Fortinet lurks. UNC3886 and kin hit unmanned aircraft firms and R&D for IP theft. Norway's NSM confirmed China-linked espionage as their top 2026 threat, per Scandasia.

US response? Trump's 2026 National Defense Strategy eyes China economically, pushing alliances and "strategic stability" talks with PLA to avoid Xi Jinping summit fireworks in April. In Bangladesh, Ambassador Brent T. Christensen warned of China risks, pitching US gear over drone factories near India's border and Pakistan's China-co-built JF-17 jets. CYBERCOM nominee Rudd prioritizes China ops review for homeland defense. Google's GTIG flags sustained China pressure on DIB.

New vectors: Edge exploits, rehearsed infra attacks, SmarterMail resets. Expert recs? Patch Ivanti, Fortinet pronto—Patch Tuesday hit those hard. Segment edges, hunt Velociraptor anomalies, and air-gap rehearsals if you're near the Dragon's turf. Multi-factor everything, and scan for Expedition-like sims.

Stay vigilant, listeners—China's cyber game is marathon, not sprint. Thanks for tuning in to Digital Dragon Watch; subscribe now for the edge. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here with your weekly China cyber alert, and we've got some serious developments to walk through.

Singapore just got hit hard by UNC3886, a China-linked advanced persistent threat group that's been operating since at least 2022. The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore revealed Monday that all four major telecom operators—M1, SIMBA Telecom, Singtel, and StarHub—fell victim to a deliberate, well-planned campaign. What makes this fascinating is the sophistication. These attackers weaponized zero-day exploits to punch through perimeter firewits, deployed rootkits for persistent access, and grabbed some technical data to advance their operational objectives. The good news? No customer data breach confirmed, and Singapore's cyber defenders mounted something called Operation Cyber Guardian to boot them out and expand monitoring.

Now here's where it gets really interesting. According to research from Rapid7 Labs, the Chinese APT group Lotus Blossom just got caught orchestrating a massive supply chain attack. They compromised the infrastructure hosting Notepad++, that popular code editor millions of developers use daily, and delivered a custom backdoor they're calling Chrysalis. This group has been active since 2009 and typically targets government, telecommunications, and aviation sectors across Southeast Asia and Central America. Supply chain attacks are the new frontier for Chinese cyber operations because they're like planting seeds in everybody's garden at once.

Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is getting serious about defense. Five bipartisan cybersecurity bills advanced unanimously, with special focus on critical infrastructure. The Energy Threat Analysis Center Act specifically calls out Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon as embedded threats already operating in critical infrastructure networks, sometimes undetected. Representative Gabe Evans pointed out that Chinese Communist Party-backed hacker groups have already infiltrated energy sector networks, making reauthorization of ETAC absolutely essential.

The broader picture shows these operations aren't just about stealing data anymore. According to analysis from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Volt Typhoon's targeting of U.S. critical infrastructure suggests preparation for disruption operations in a potential military crisis rather than traditional espionage. They're collecting network diagrams and operating manuals, stuff that would be useful for sabotage, not intelligence gathering. Networks in Guam got particular attention, likely because those U.S. naval ports and air bases would be critical to any military response involving Taiwan.

China itself just comprehensively revised its Cybersecurity Law, effective January first, 2026, strengthening penalties and expanding extraterritorial regulation to cover activities endangering China's cybersecurity beyond just critical infrastructure attacks. The liability framework got sharper too, with expanded personal accountability.

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This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here with your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert, diving straight into the hottest threats from the past seven days ending February 8, 2026. Buckle up—China-nexus hackers have been swinging hard, but we've got the intel to fight back.

First off, the DKnife toolkit is making waves. Cyberrecaps reports a China-linked crew's been wielding this Linux-based beast since 2019 to hijack routers and edge devices, pulling off adversary-in-the-middle attacks. They're DNS-hijacking traffic, slipping ShadowPad and DarkNimbus backdoors into legit Android updates and Windows binaries, mostly targeting Chinese-speaking users on WeChat and email services. Compromised CentOS and Red Hat boxes at IPs like 43.132.205.118 are their playground—pure espionage gold for network gateway control.

Then there's the Notepad++ supply chain nightmare. Don Ho, the developer, confirmed on his blog that from June to December 2025, hackers—tagged Lotus Blossom by Rapid7—hijacked the update server hosted by Hostinger. They selectively poisoned downloads for targeted users, dropping custom backdoors for data theft and lateral movement. CISA's on it, probing US government exposure. Lotus Blossom, active since 2009, loves hitting Southeast Asia's government, telecom, aviation, and critical infra—now creeping into Central America. Highly selective, not mass chaos, but a dev's worst dream.

Scale up to Shadow Campaigns: Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 exposed TGR-STA-1030/UNC6619 breaching 70 government networks across 37 countries. This Asia-based op, likely Chinese-backed with GMT+8 ops, deploys ShadowGuard rootkit to cloak Linux processes, scanning SSH vulns and timing hits like the October 2025 US shutdown or pre-Honduras election recon. Targets? Finance ministries, parliaments, border control, power grids—spying on trade, diplomacy, and elections in South China Sea hotspots like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam.

Sectors hammered: critical infrastructure, government, developers. New vectors? Router hijacks, update poisoning, rootkits evading EDR. US responses? CISA added SmarterMail's CVE-2026-24423 to KEV for active ransomware exploits, issued BOD 26-02 mandating federal agencies ditch EOL edge devices within 12 months—China and Russia love those unpatched routers and VPNs. They're tracking Shadow Campaigns too.

Expert recs from Rapid7 and Unit 42: Patch Notepad++ now, scan for DKnife IOCs, enforce MFA beyond basics (ShinyHunters are MFA-phishing), inventory edge gear, block VPS/ Tor SSH attempts, and rotate creds. For routers, ditch defaults, enable MFA, and air-gap updates. Developers, vet supply chains like your life depends on it—because it does.

Whew, dragons are roaring, but stay vigilant, listeners. This has been Ting signing off—thanks for tuning in to Digital Dragon Watch. Subscribe for more, and remember: This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai. Stay cyber-safe!

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