Big Take How China Is Building a Powerful Army of Hackers
Jun 18, 2025
Jamie Tarabay, a Bloomberg reporter specializing in national security, discusses China's strategic shift in cybersecurity. She reveals how the country stopped participating in international hacking competitions to cultivate domestic talent. The conversation delves into the implications for global cybersecurity, particularly concerning state-sponsored hacking activities and U.S.-China relations. Tarabay also highlights the rising threats posed by Chinese cyber capabilities targeting critical infrastructure, emphasizing the challenges of accountability in prosecuting hackers from these nations.
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China Dominated Early International Hackathons
- Chinese hacking teams quickly dominated international hackathons like Pwn2Own between 2016 and 2017.
- By 2018, their participation was halted by government restrictions to keep cyber vulnerabilities within China.
China Keeps Vulnerabilities In-House
- China stopped allowing hackers to compete internationally in 2018, focusing instead on domestic contests like the Tianfu Cup.
- Vulnerabilities found in Tianfu Cup are reported to the government rather than publicly disclosed.
China Controls Vulnerability Disclosure
- Unlike international hackathons where vulnerabilities get reported to vendors, Chinese participants must disclose exploits first to the government.
- This centralized control means distribution and use of vulnerabilities are opaque and possibly exploited by the state.