This panel at OODAcon 2024 delved into the complex challenges posed by China across cyber threats, propaganda, supply chain vulnerabilities, and intellectual property theft.

Panelists included world renowned experts with deep experience in cybersecurity, intelligence, and Chinese strategic goals: Moderator: Kristin Del Rosso, Co-Founder & Managing Director, DEVSEC LLC, Charity Wright, Principal Threat Intelligence Consultant, Recorded Future, Eugenio Benincasa, Senior Cyber Defense Researcher, Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich, and Judy Ng, Microsoft

They emphasized the importance of integrating diverse perspectives—cyber, policy, and geopolitical—into a unified approach to address China’s rapidly evolving tactics. Topics ranged from China’s exploitative ownership structures and talent pipelines to their advanced use of hacking contests and global influence operations, all underscoring a sophisticated long-term strategy.

The panel explored China’s “digital colonialism,” a strategy using the export of digital technologies under the Belt and Road Initiative’s Digital Silk Road to dominate global information flows. This effort includes building data centers, laying infrastructure like undersea cables, and embedding billions of IoT devices worldwide to enhance surveillance and espionage capabilities. Experts highlighted the risks of waiting too long to counter these moves, likening the current reactive posture to addressing a gunshot wound rather than disarming the threat beforehand. Practical advice centered on proactively securing networks, patching vulnerabilities, and strengthening threat-sharing partnerships across industries.

The session concluded with a look at the most pressing concerns and potential paths forward. Intellectual property theft remains a critical economic threat, while global influence operations erode democratic norms and amplify anti-U.S. narratives. Despite these challenges, panelists pointed to initiatives like the U.S. Cyber Games and international cooperation as glimmers of hope. They stressed the need for continued collaboration, norm-setting, and creativity in countering China’s strategic advances, warning that the time to act is now.