Mandiant has been monitoring and reporting on it since June 2019.
Believed to have been formed in the midst of the Hong Kong anti-extradition protests, Dragonbridge’s early narratives included discrediting Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.
Plagiarizing, Altering, and Impersonating
In its latest campaign, the social media accounts promoted fake articles from major news outlets saying APT41, a Chinese government-backed hacker group, was backed by the U.S. government.The articles from major news outlets are plagiarized and altered. The blog gave an example of a Chinese-language article published by Hong Kong’s Sing Dao Daily.
The original article says that “Chinese government backed hacker group APT41 has compromised the computer network of at least 6 U.S. state government, and that the Department of Justice has charged five APT41 hackers.”
The altered passage reads, “U.S. government backed hacker group APT41 has compromised the computer network of at least 6 countries, and that the countries have charged five APT41 hackers.”
Criticizing US Political System and Democratic Process
In September 2022, Dragonbridge accounts posted a video in English on multiple social media platforms. The video attempts to discourage Americans from voting in the upcoming U.S. midterm elections by questioning the effectiveness of the U.S. government.The video asserted that the cure for the United States is to “root out this ineffective and incapacitated system.” It also criticizes the legislative process for not having any tangible impact on Americans.
The Dragonbridge accounts also state that political infighting, partisanship, polarization, and division are the foundation of America’s democratic system.
The Mandiant blog concludes, “such persistence, combined with clear intent and scale, renders the campaign a priority for monitoring.”