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

Listeners, Ting here with your fresh-pressed Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert—and let’s skip the chit-chat because this week has been a techie thriller.

Right out of the gate, the big one is the Salt Typhoon operation. This isn’t some script kiddie running Python scans from a basement—Salt Typhoon, attributed by US and international investigators to Chinese state apparatus, pulled off a years-long campaign targeting over 80 countries, possibly hoovering up data linked to almost every American. The twist? This hack was deeper than we thought, with telecoms and big brand companies as prime targets. According to Stan Stahl’s Substack, stolen data could be a gold mine for Beijing, lighting up trails to politicians, spies, and basically anyone with influence. US officials say China’s attack game is now just as fierce as America’s.

Let’s talk new attack vectors: APT41—the Advanced Persistent Threat group with a reputation for Hollywood-grade subterfuge—unleashed a fake email blast posing as Representative John Moolenaar, who, fun fact, chairs the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the US and China. Picture staffers prepping for tense trade talks in Sweden, then suddenly they receive an urgent “review this draft legislation” email from their own chairman… except it’s a trap. The attached document was laced with malware designed to open every bit of internal comms to Chinese intel eyes. Reuters and The Wall Street Journal confirm the feds, including the FBI and Capitol Police, are on the case, while the Chinese embassy, sticking to the script, denies everything and blames the chaotic nature of the global web.

This isn’t a solo act, and it’s not just the federal government lacing up its gloves either. According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Texas launched a “hostile foreign adversaries unit” to actively counter foreign digital meddling, especially China. Their toolkit includes requirements for universities to report foreign gifts and revamped training programs for recognizing digital propaganda—the sort of state-level move we might see replicated elsewhere if the feds can’t keep up.

From the international angle, the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency just put critical infrastructure operators on high alert over rising risks from Chinese data transfers. This follows a confirmed attack on their Ministry of Foreign Affairs traced to APT31—another notorious Chinese state-linked hacking crew. Their specialty? Exploiting industrial control systems—think power, water, and transport.

Now, defense isn’t standing still. Chinese authorities themselves are scrambling to revise their own Cybersecurity Law, pushing for stiffer penalties on anyone letting data slip. We’re talking million-yuan fines and even revocation of business licenses. This fits with Beijing’s push for “cybersecurity self-reliance,” making their own networks less porous, just as Western entities try to up their defenses. On the Western side, cyber experts urge companies to nail basic hygiene—multi-factor authentication, rapid patch cycles, and continuous employee education on spear-phishing. CISA, the NSA, and partners are all rolling out regular threat intelligence updates with new IoCs—indicators of compromise—to help organizations stay ahead.

All in all, the battlefront is shifting fast; nation-state actors are using criminal proxies and private industry as cyber-toxic force multipliers, blurring the line between hacktivism and official espionage. My advice? Don’t open that suspicious “urgent review” email, and never assume your comms are safe.

Thanks for tuning in to Digital Dragon Watch with Ting. Don’t forget to subscribe—and hey, safeguard your secrets. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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