Advertisement for the 2018 "Anxun Cup" hacking competition, jointly hosted by Sichuan Anxun (iS00N) and Chengdu University. Photo credit: iS00N Update That big data leak of 571 files from the hacker firm iS00N had researchers and journalists salivating for five days - but on the sixth day, GitHub, the platform where it was posted, invoked its terms of service to remove it. The biggest leak of data ever from any Chinese hacking organization was replaced overnight on 21-22 February with this...
10 months ago • 4 min read
This year's most popular poster at the MSS and the CCP Propaganda Department? Maybe only in the gift shop (to view images, enable download) Sino Spies of the Baltic; The Comparative Politics of Spy Trades; Pathbreaking Research from Australia by Alex Joske Sino spies of the Baltic Russian clandestine operations have long targeted the Baltic States and Scandinavia, but lately, the environment has become more crowded. Interviews conducted in Europe since the last newsletter in July highlighted...
12 months ago • 5 min read
Dear Friends: Here are a couple of items that I hope you will find interesting. Chinese "Police Stations" Abroad: A Radio Segment, and Some Background For an eight-minute explanation on these stations, go here for my interview with Scott Tong on "Here and Now," the award-winning radio program from National Public Radio and WBUR Boston. They do long-form interviews and dig deeper into contemporary affairs than other such shows, and are worth checking out. Go Deeper: The Chinese Communist Party...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
Dear Friends: Here are a couple of items that I hope you will find interesting. Chinese "Police Stations" Abroad: A Radio Segment, and Some Background For an eight-minute explanation on these stations, go here for my interview with Scott Tong on "Here and Now," the award-winning radio program from National Public Radio and WBUR Boston. They do long-form interviews and dig deeper into contemporary affairs than other such shows, and are worth checking out. Go Deeper: The Chinese Communist Party...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
Dear Friends: Party and State Rumors The non-communist Chinese press was abuzz last week with rumors that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) plans to reorganize its IC (intelligence community) by merging the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security together into a new organ of state security, directly under the Central Committee. Citing Ming Pao (Hong Kong), China Times, a Taiwan news outlet, says here that the supposed new super-security organ, to be established under...
almost 2 years ago • 2 min read
Dear Friends: Many analysts think that researching the espionage efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is a fruitless exercise. "You won't find much" is advice that I've heard many times, plus "aren't you afraid for your safety?" These views are held not only by academics, but also by some in government. One needs only examine the writings of Peter Mattis or Alex Joske to see that one can find much through open sources, not only on the historical side of the question, but also on...
about 2 years ago • 1 min read
Granddad doesn't need another tie for Christmas - he needs a great book Greetings, Friends: Need a gift for that special someone who has everything? The updated paperback version of Chinese Communist Espionage, just published in August, is priced on Amazon at $32.95 and is the same price direct from Naval Institute Press. From either source, it's still deliverable by Christmas! Meanwhile, I hope that have taken the opportunity to subscribe - for free - to SpyTalk. I regularly contribute...
about 2 years ago • 1 min read
Greetings: Here are two very recent forums where I had opportunities to reflect on the intersection between China's security and intelligence apparatus and the nationwide lockdown protests: https://slate.com/podcasts/what-next/2022/12/what-zero-covid-protests-reflect-about-xi-jinping https://www.spytalk.co/p/do-china-protests-reveal-beijing As a result of the tragedy in Urumqi, protestors in China are almost certainly motivated by the fear that they themselves might become fire, earthquake,...
about 2 years ago • 1 min read
Excerpt from "China, The Fearful Intelligence Culture," By Matthew Brazil The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has placed priority on its intelligence and security operations for almost a century. This core business of the party significantly contributed to the CCP’s 1949 victory and to the maintenance of its current power. Most recently, the internet and artificial intelligence (AI) have enabled previously unimaginable foreign espionage successes. Yet there are cracks in the façade: unending...
about 2 years ago • 1 min read
