Chinese Ministry of State Security Warns Citizens Against Dark Web Access Amid Security Concerns

Illustration of CCP hackers. (AI-generated image)

[People News] On March 19, the WeChat public account of the Ministry of State Security published an article titled "Foreign Spies Use the Dark Web to Infiltrate and Steal Secrets, Revealing the True Nature of the 'Internet Black Hole.'" The article aims to inform citizens about the 'dark web,' which is not commonly understood by the general public. It describes the dark web as a 'marketplace for personal information,' a 'hotbed for the dissemination of harmful information,' and an 'underground channel for illegal goods.' The article highlights that this mysterious area, referred to as the 'Internet black hole,' is being exploited by 'foreign spy agencies and criminals.' It concludes with a warning for citizens to avoid using the dark web, to resist and distance themselves from it, and not to engage in transactions there, as such actions violate the so-called laws of the Communist Party of China.

Additionally, the Communist Party has announced a reporting hotline, encouraging citizens to report any leads related to 'illegal activities involving the dark web and cyberattacks that threaten national security.'

Public information indicates that the dark web is a concealed network constructed using specialised technology, which cannot be indexed by standard search engines and requires specific software for access. Its defining features include high levels of anonymity and concealment, and it is frequently used for illegal transactions (such as drugs, data, and weapons) and espionage activities.

For the vast majority of Chinese citizens, the 'dark web' is indeed a remote concept. Many individuals do not even know how to bypass the Great Firewall, let alone how to access the dark web. Given that the dark web is not a common issue for ordinary Chinese people, why has the Communist Party suddenly raised the topic and urged citizens to avoid and guard against it? Who exactly is the intended audience for this message?

The author believes that the warning issued by the Ministry of State Security of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is linked to two incidents that have occurred in the past three months. One of these incidents involves hackers who recently posted on the international dark web forum Breach Forums under the alias 'FlamingChina'. They claimed to have breached the CCP's Tianjin Supercomputing Centre and obtained over 10PB (approximately 10 million GB) of massive data, which they are sampling on Telegram/GitHub and auctioning at low prices on the dark web.

Reports suggest that the stored data is equivalent to 2.13 million DVDs, encompassing core simulations from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and the National University of Defence Technology. This includes details on aircraft missile structures, stealth aerodynamics, the damage effects of attacks on the U.S. military's HIMARS rocket system and aircraft carrier strike groups, missile launch vehicle protection simulations, nuclear fusion simulations, bioinformatics, and even classified documents marked 'Confidential for Ten Years', with timestamps indicating the latest data from 2021-2025.

If the data was indeed stolen as the hackers claim and is being sold on the dark web, the implications of leaking numerous secrets from the CCP's military-industrial system would be significant for the CCP. What consequences would the CCP face if Western intelligence agencies were to acquire this information?

Additionally, there is suspicion regarding whether this hacker is an insider within the CCP system; after all, if they were not an insider, how could they have stolen such a vast and detailed array of secrets?

Another significant development is that after the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States released a video last year encouraging officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to provide intelligence to the U.S., the CIA issued another video in January and February of this year, recruiting CCP officials and military personnel to supply intelligence to the United States.

Both videos outlined a comprehensive set of steps for securely contacting the CIA. This included purchasing communication devices with cash or gift cards without revealing personal information, finding public places with Wi-Fi for anonymous communication, downloading web browsers and VPN software from American or Western companies, creating new email accounts, and reaching out through the dark web, among other methods.

Reports indicate that the videos have received over 120 million views. Who is watching? How many of these viewers are Chinese individuals, both within and outside the CCP system, who are aware of its secrets? If they utilise the dark web to contact the CIA, it would be challenging for the CCP to detect their activities.

These incidents have clearly instilled a profound sense of fear among the upper echelons of the CCP, who find themselves at a loss for effective measures to counter this situation. The Ministry of State Security, feeling pressured, has resorted to issuing threats to the public, particularly targeting those who are privy to the CCP's secrets, both inside and outside the system. However, as an increasing number of Chinese citizens, including those within the system who live in constant fear, can no longer tolerate the CCP's oppressive rule, how effective can such threats be when people no longer fear them?

(Originally published by the People News) △