The Rest Is Classified 88. China vs Google: When Beijing Took on Silicon Valley (Ep 1)
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Oct 5, 2025 A major cyber attack in 2010 marked a turning point for state-sponsored cyber espionage. Google faced a sophisticated breach traced to China, raising critical questions about corporate responsibility versus government accountability. The hosts explore the ethical dilemmas surrounding Google's entry into China's controlled internet landscape and the implications for freedom of speech. They also delve into the attackers' motives, targeting dissidents and the extensive reach of the breach, highlighting a complex web of modern cybersecurity challenges.
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Aurora As Cyber Espionage Origin
- The 2010 Google hack (Aurora) was the origin story for state-sponsored cyber espionage against companies.
- Google publicly accused China, marking a shift where corporations named nation-state attackers.
China's Internet Control Logic
- China viewed the internet as a Western Trojan horse after Tiananmen and built the Great Firewall to control it.
- Western tech dominance and incidents like Microsoft's anti-piracy scare deepened Chinese fears of foreign control.
Google's Internal China Debate
- Google debated entering China and created Google.cn in compromise, agreeing to censor results per Chinese law.
- Sergey Brin was cautious due to his Soviet-born family background, while others prioritized access to users.
