At present, cyberspace has become an important channel for foreign espionage and intelligence agencies to infiltrate and steal secrets from China, and cyber espionage activities are becoming more and more active, with precise and fierce technical attacks, and methods of stealing secrets emerging one after another, seriously threatening China's national security. With the rapid popularization and deepening of the application of network technology in China, the network technology service industry has become a new target for foreign espionage and intelligence agencies to infiltrate and steal secrets, circumvent China's network security supervision and protection system, and carry out network espionage.

At the beginning of this year, a foreign software developer took the initiative to contact Xiao Wang and invited Xiao Wang to configure dozens of software batches with "digital signature certificates" and "anti-virus software tests" in order to "successfully pass" our network security certification test and promise to pay high rewards.

As the relationship deepened, the software developer further asked Xiao Wang to use the specified software and encryption link to contact him, and his rhetoric was inconsistent and his behavior was abnormal. Xiao Wang realized that this foreign software developer is by no means an ordinary commercial organization, and if it provides "technical services", it will enable software with security risks to bypass China's network security supervision and enter the Chinese application market. However, driven by the temptation of economic interests, Xiao Wang knew the danger but was lucky, and established a cooperative relationship with the foreign software developer, providing "technical services" for dozens of its software.

"Skynet is magnificent, negligent but not leaky". After investigation, the real identity of the foreign software developer who established a "cooperative relationship" with Xiao Wang was a foreign espionage intelligence agency. The software provided by Xiao Wang for "technical services" is bundled with special Trojan virus programs, which will invade and control computers, servers and other network equipment and steal documents, materials and data once clicked to run. This espionage and intelligence agency used these "drug-carrying" software to carry out network attacks and theft of secrets from dozens of China's national defense and military industrial units and high-tech enterprises.

After discovering and ascertaining the situation, the state security organs promptly reported to the relevant units and carried out disposition work in accordance with the law, avoiding major harm and losses. Xiao Wang also paid the price for his "luck" and was given an administrative punishment by the state security organs in accordance with the law.

Reminder from the state security organs

Cyberspace seems to be invisible and hidden, but in fact, it is full of spy shadows and dark wars. Digital signatures, digital certificates, security tests, network domain names, cloud servers, e-mails and other network assets and services may be used by foreign espionage and intelligence agencies to carry out cyber attacks and theft activities.

Network service establishments and practitioners should be vigilant, keep their eyes open, and when suspicious persons make "special" requests when purchasing technical support services, or discover illegal activities such as network attacks, intrusions, interference, control, or sabotage, they should promptly retain evidence, call the 12339 reporting acceptance number, or log on to the www.12339.gov.cn Internet reporting acceptance platform, or report to the state security organs through the Ministry of State Security's WeChat official account reporting acceptance channel.

Anping

(WeChat public account of the Ministry of State Security)