China's Expanding Cyber Playbook | DGAP
dgap.org
China has emerged as a major cyber threat, particularly targeting Taiwan and Japan with sophisticated cyber operations. Against Taiwan, these attacks have included espionage, financial manipulation, intellectual property theft, and infrastructure sabotage, while those against Japan have focused on intelligence gathering on defense and political activities. From 2013-2023, China has refined its cyber tactics, shifting operations to private proxies, exploiting supply chain vulnerabilities, and using disinformation to obscure its involvement. In response to increasing attribution, China has denied accusations and engaged in counter-narratives, particularly after the Volt Typhoon exposure in 2023. To counter these threats, the report recommends enhanced intelligence sharing, joint attributions, industry-led security standards, and global cooperation to combat disinformation.

Here is the full report (pdf).

TLDR:

  • Beijing is dedicating more and more resources to counter democratic attribution statements through disinformation
  • When targeting Taiwan, China aims to undermine Taipei’s economic power and induce fear through disruptive and destructive cyber operations
  • In Japan, China gathers information that could be of use in a future conflict, e.g. defense industrial base, information on politician

China has emerged as a major cyber threat, particularly targeting Taiwan and Japan with sophisticated cyber operations. Against Taiwan, these attacks have included espionage, financial manipulation, intellectual property theft, and infrastructure sabotage, while those against Japan have focused on intelligence gathering on defense and political activities.

From 2013-2023, China has refined its cyber tactics, shifting operations to private proxies, exploiting supply chain vulnerabilities, and using disinformation to obscure its involvement. In response to increasing attribution, China has denied accusations and engaged in counter-narratives, particularly after the Volt Typhoon exposure in 2023. To counter these threats, the report recommends enhanced intelligence sharing, joint attributions, industry-led security standards, and global cooperation to combat disinformation.