How China’s Patriotic ‘Honkers’ Became the Nation’s Elite Cyber Spies

Topsec and Venustech were two companies that would have helped these efforts. Topsec has employed a number of former Honkers, including the founder of the Honker Union of China, and the founder of Topsec once recognized in an interview that the APL has managed his business. In 2015, Topsec was linked to cyber operations sponsored by the state, including the violation of hymn insurance in the United States.

Over the years, many tools used by China APT groups have been built by Honkers, and PLA and MSS have operated them for vulnerability research and development of development. In 1999, Huang Xin (Glacier), member of the Green Army, published “Glacier”, a Trojan horse from a distance. The following year, he and Yang Yong (COOLC) from XFOCUS published X-SCAN, a tool to scan vulnerability networks that are still used by pirates in China today. In 2003, two members of Honker Union published Htran, a tool to hide the location of an attacker by releasing their traffic via proxy computers, which was used by the APT of China. It is believed that the member of the NCPH (WHG) created the Plugx stolen door in 2008, which was used by more than 10 Chinese APTS. According to Benincasa, Zhou developed it even more to produce Shadowpad, which was used by the APT 41 and others.

Over the years, the American leaks and indictment against the former Honkers have exhibited their alleged post-honker spying careers, as well as the use of China of for-profit companies for state hacking operations. The latter include I-Soon and Integrity Tech, both launched by former Honkers.

Wu Haibo (Shutdown), formerly of the Green Army and 0x557, launched I-Soon in 2010. And last year, someone disclosed internal files and cat newspapers, exposing the espionage work of the company on behalf of the MSS and MPS. In March of this year, eight I-Soon employees and two MPS officers were charged by the United States for hacking operations that targeted US government agencies, Asian Foreign Affairs, Dissidents and the Media.

Integrity Tech, founded in 2010 by the former member of the Green Army Cai Jingjing (CBird), was sanctioned by the United States this year in terms of links with global infrastructure hacks.

This year, the United States also charged the former members of the Green Army Zhou and Wu for having carried out state hacking and sanctioned Zhou on links to the APT 27. In addition to engaging in a piracy sponsored by the State, it would also have directed a data leak service selling some of the stolen data to customers, including intelligence agencies.

This is not like American pirates at the start of the generation who are also becoming founders of the cybersecurity company and have also been recruited by the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency or hired by entrepreneurs to carry out hacking operations for American operations. But unlike the United States, the company’s intelligence authorities in China have forced certain Chinese citizens and businesses to collaborate with the State in the conduct of espionage, notes Kozy.

“I think China from the start has just thought:” We can coopt [the Honkers] for the interests of the state. “Said Kozy.” And … because many of these young people had patriotic trends to start, they were in service saying: “Hey, you will do a lot of very good things for the country”. In addition, many of them have started to realize that they could become rich by doing so. »»