CCP Harvests Open-Source Intelligence for Military Advantage: Report

Visitors look at an AI (Artificial Intelligence) security software program on a screen at the 14th China International Exhibition on Public Safety and Security at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing on Oct. 24, 2018. NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images

China’s communist regime is investing in new ways to exploit open-source intelligence (OSINT) to undermine the United States and gain military advantage, according to a new report.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, is contracting new research and analysis services to compile actionable intelligence from publicly available sources throughout the world, the report (pdf) states.

The report, published this month by threat intelligence firm Recorded Future, claims that the CCP’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is increasingly benefiting from a growing apparatus of organizations designed to siphon off U.S. and allied intelligence for its own purposes.

“A growing ecosystem of private companies, state-owned enterprises, state-run research organizations, and universities is supporting the PLA’s push to leverage open-source intelligence (OSINT) by providing research services, platforms, and data,” the report says.

“The PLA very likely uses this data to support decision-making and better understand potential foreign adversaries in preparation for future conflicts.”

CCP Automates Intelligence Siphoning

The report profiles five private Chinese OSINT providers that serve the PLA, and also offers original analysis of PLA documents, Chinese academic articles, and collections of Chinese OSINT-procurement records from 2019 to 2023.

CCP-controlled China has built up a “paranoid and secretive system” that doesn’t release information about its internal concepts and decision-making, the report says, but relies on exploiting other nations’ intelligence to enhance its own understanding of U.S. and allied military capabilities.

“PLA entities pursue OSINT on foreign military capabilities, facilities, doctrine, decision-making, weapons, equipment, science and technology, exercises, training, intelligence, and deployments,” the report says.

“PLA entities also seek OSINT on geopolitical trends, foreign think tanks, foreign defense industry companies, general science and technology developments, and other non-military topics.”

Among the more notable examples of this, as highlighted by the report, is a 2020 paper published by personnel in the regime’s Central Military Commission, China’s highest defense body.

That document claims that recent technological developments have facilitated continuous, automated intelligence collection from internet sources abroad, including from governments, militaries, scientific publications, and universities.

Moreover, the authors of that document claim that such intelligence improves CCP operational capabilities and supports command decision-making, the report says.

“They argue that this internet-based OSINT is an effective source of information on operational forces, equipment construction, operational capabilities, military exercises, battlefield environments, and other topics.”

Another example dating back to 2019, examines how researchers at a university linked to the CCP’s domestic intelligence agency promoted the integration of OSINT contributions from across the government, military, intelligence agencies, and universities.

Entities Urged to Be Cautious Online

The CCP’s work to more effectively exploit openly available intelligence from all over the world comes at a time when the regime is facing increased fallout from its more illicit spying efforts.

While the regime’s use of a spy balloon to target U.S. nuclear sites or its widespread campaign of transnational repression against ethnic Chinese living abroad may raise alarm, the systematic collection of publicly available information is more likely to fly under the radar.

To that end, the report says that Chinese state-owned nuclear agencies, shipbuilders, military, and service academies are likely expanding their OSINT collection capabilities.

Such capabilities include web crawlers, data mining and machine learning tools, and the automated mass collection of text, image, audio, and visual materials from internet users across the globe, particularly in countries tough on the regime.

“PLA entities are interested in OSINT related to specific targets, subjects, and issues in countries like the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany, India, and Russia,” the report says.

“The PLA almost certainly views OSINT as an increasingly valuable source of military intelligence that can support decision-making and necessitates the use of new collection, processing, and analysis technologies, which the PLA and China’s defense industry are actively developing.”

Thus, while the regime is working to seal off its intelligence from the rest of the world, the report warns that the United States and other open societies will likely lose military advantage in the OSINT domain.

“This OSINT almost certainly provides the PLA insight into foreign military capabilities, facilities, doctrine, decision-making, weapons, equipment, science and technology, exercises, training, intelligence, and deployments, providing a clear intelligence advantage.”

“Given that China is very unlikely to open up its information environment, and that Western countries are very unlikely to close off their information environments, the PLA will very likely maintain its advantage over Western militaries in OSINT.”

Because democratic societies are unlikely to wall off information from the rest of the world, the report says, entities from governments to social media platforms to individuals must practice caution online, knowing that the CCP is compiling any and all information it can.

“Governments, militaries, research organizations, companies, news media organizations, social media platforms, and individuals should be aware that China’s military and defense industry are using new technologies to collect, process, and analyze massive amounts of their publicly-available data for intelligence purposes, and should consider taking steps to mitigate these intelligence collection efforts.”