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

Hey listeners, Ting here, your go-to gal for all things China cyber chaos. Picture this: it's early January 2026, and I'm glued to my screens as Taiwan's National Security Bureau drops their bombshell report on January 4th, exposing China's cyber army hammering U.S. allies like a digital sledgehammer. But wait, Dragon's Code isn't just Taiwan drama—it's bleeding into America's grid, with Chinese hackers like UNC3886 and Flax Typhoon testing our defenses right here at home.

Flash back to late December 2024: Chinese APTs snag a BeyondTrust admin key, slip into the U.S. Treasury's workstations, and yoink unclassified docs. CISA gets the heads-up December 8th, labeling it a major incident. Fast-forward to March 2025, Mandiant outs UNC3886 exploiting zero-days in Juniper Networks routers—Junos OS flaws letting Linen Typhoon and Storm-2603 burrow into U.S. network infrastructure for espionage gold. These aren't script kiddies; they're state-sponsored pros from Beijing, chaining supply chain hits with vulnerability exploits in over half their ops.

By 2025, Taiwan sees 2.63 million daily intrusions—960 million total—up 6% from '24, but energy infrastructure? A whopping 1,000% surge, per the NSB. Attackers pounce during software upgrades on industrial control systems, planting malware to spy on power grids, petroleum lines, and gas ops. Hospitals get ransomware for dark web data sales; telecoms face man-in-the-middle intercepts on backup links. Coordinated with PLA patrols and Taiwan prez visits, it's hybrid warfare 101. Groups like BlackTech, Mustang Panda, and APT41 specialize: IP theft from TSMC suppliers, phishing gov agencies.

America's feeling the heat too—Chinese burrowers in critical infra, spying on Trump and Vance's mobiles via telecom hacks. Just days ago, that Pickett USA breach in early January 2026 leaks sensitive utility engineering data, ripe for downstream grid sabotage. Methodologies? DDoS diversions masking zero-days, social engineering with deepfakes, supply chain pivots from vendors like BeyondTrust.

Defenses? Taiwan's patching furiously, segmenting OT networks. U.S. side, CISA pushes Zero Trust and automation, echoing Sectigo's 2026 playbook for state govs. Expert Jack Burnham from Foundation for Defense of Democracies warns of cyber-enabled economic warfare—urges U.S. convoys, energy stockpiles, tech advisors to Taiwan. Joshua Steinman, ex-NSC cyber director, cheers our Venezuela cyber strikes disrupting Chinese radars as a "speed of relevance" win. Eric O'Neill, FBI vet, says it spooks Beijing: "You strike us, we strike back." But Lindsay Gorman cautions tipping our Stuxnet-style hand.

Lessons? Pre-positioning is the new prequel to invasion—2027 Taiwan looms large. Patch everything, audit third-parties, integrate cyber into kinetic ops like Anne Neuberger preaches. China denies it all, but the code doesn't lie.

Thanks for tuning in, listeners—subscribe for more cyber spice! This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.

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