Cyber mercenary "I-Soon"

Rare insight into the secret world of Chinese hackers

The Chinese IT company I-Soon is in the news: decorations for Chinese New Year hang outside the entrance, while inside cyber mercenaries carry out espionage and propaganda missions for Beijing's security authorities.(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

At first glance, the offices of IT company I-Soon in Chengdu, China, look like so many other tech-related companies: colorful RGB LEDs emit green light, marble-paneled minimalist interior design meets "open space" work areas separated by glass walls. But nothing here is as it seems.

It's a setting full of monitors, piles of technology, Chinese characters on the walls and lanterns above the front door - where Chinese authorities have used an arsenal of cyber weapons to eavesdrop on targets, hijack social media accounts, bug cell phones, scan foreign networks for vulnerabilities and create hardware hacking tools for insiders. I-Soon has involuntarily been thrust into the public spotlight following the emergence of a 190 megabyte leak that provides a rare insight into the activities of cyber mercenaries operating for the Chinese state. The documents reveal how they work, how much their services cost, who they monitor and how they try to plant Beijing's propaganda in the minds of Western internet users.