This is your Dragon's Code: America Under Cyber Siege podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here, and let me tell you, this first week of 2026 has been absolutely wild on the cyber front. China's been playing chess while everyone else is still figuring out the board.

Let's start with what just dropped this week. A cybersecurity firm called Antiy released analysis suggesting the US conducted cyberattacks against Venezuela, causing massive power outages around January third. But here's where it gets spicy for us—while everyone's looking south, China's been systematically infiltrating our critical infrastructure through what I'm calling the "backdoor bazaar."

According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Beijing is running a persistent campaign stealing information from federal government networks while planting tools that give them future leverage options. Think of it like leaving malware breadcrumbs throughout our most sensitive systems. They're not just breaking in; they're setting up permanent residency.

Now let's talk methodology because this is where the sophistication really shows. DarkSpectre, a Chinese-linked operation, has been targeting twenty-eight video conferencing platforms, exfiltrating meeting data through WebSocket connections. We're talking corporate espionage infrastructure. Meanwhile, according to Ankura's threat intelligence team, over thirteen hundred vulnerable devices sitting right here in the United States are exposed, many through Fortinet products that administrators haven't patched despite warnings from CISA and the FBI going back years.

The evidence trail screaming "Made in Beijing" includes ICP registrations and code embedded with Chinese-language elements. It's like they're not even trying to hide their homework.

But here's what really got my attention—transnational organized crime networks linked to the Chinese Communist Party are operating sophisticated digital scams, prompting Congress to task US Cyber Command with submitting recommendations for defensive actions. This isn't just espionage anymore; it's organized crime wrapped in state sponsorship.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's reporting that Chinese cyberattacks on hospitals, banks, and critical infrastructure jumped six percent in twenty twenty-five, signaling hybrid warfare ramping up alongside the military drills we saw over New Year's.

The defensive measures? Organizations need to patch everything yesterday. The MongoDB vulnerability alone left nearly seventy percent of internet-facing instances vulnerable as of December thirtieth, with three hundred thousand exposed servers out there. Cybersecurity personnel need to treat infrastructure updates like emergency medicine, not optional maintenance.

What we're learning here is that China's playing a long game—they're building persistent access, stealing intelligence, and positioning for leverage during strategic moments. They're patient, methodical, and honestly, we're barely keeping up.

Thanks so much for tuning in, listeners. Make sure to subscribe for more cyber threat intel and geopolitical analysis. This has been Quiet Please, for more check out quietplease.ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI