11 July 2025

Digital threats from China unlike any ever encountered, top cyber firm warns

Ryan Lovelace

A top American cybersecurity company warns in a new report that the global scale and sophistication of Chinese threats are unlike anything its analysts have ever seen.

A June report from Palo Alto Networks, based in Santa Clara, California, shows that the speed and skills of Chinese state-sponsored cyberattackers have reached unprecedented levels.

China hackers attack “within hours, and in some cases minutes” of new vulnerabilities being identified for exploitation, said Wendi Whitmore, Palo Alto Networks’ chief information security officer.

“I have been conducting investigations in this space specifically toward nation-state actors for almost 25 years, it’s been [a while], and we have never seen during that time frame, the scale of persistent threat activity that we’re seeing today from Chinese nation-state threat actors,” Ms. Whitmore said in the report.

As a result, Palo Alto Networks said, businesses must rethink all their defensive strategies to counter the escalating campaign.

The scope of China’s attacks is massive.

Palo Alto Networks identified “whole-of-government scale operations,” such as a hack last year that hit 23 government entities in Cambodia nearly simultaneously.

“The unprecedented scale and sophistication of today’s cyber threats, particularly from Chinese nation-state actors, demands more than incremental improvements to existing defenses,” the report said. “Organizations need comprehensive strategies that combine advanced technology with strong human leadership, proactive relationship building, as well as cultural transformation.”

No comments: