China hacker: between capital and the state - Tricia Wang

Tricia Wang

Prolific hacker "Wicked Rose" has turned himself into a "security professional" after years of using holes in the Microsoft Office to dig into the US Defense department. Sociologist Tricia Wang wonders in 88-bar whether Chinese hackers finding themselves a new kind of career after being discovered.

Tricia Wang:

If Wicked Rose’s Anvisoft is a legitimate company, he would be following an already paved path for hackers with shady pasts. Convicted hackers in the West, such as Kevin Mitnick have become “security professionals.”

But in China, infamous hackers are usually plucked up by the Chinese state for cushy jobs. Could this be a signal that capitalism is competing against the Chinese state for knowledge workers, like Wicked Rose? Or as China continues to prove, the state and the market can always find new ways to operate together.

More in 88-bar.

Tricia Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Not only hackers are expanding their scope, also China's internet companies go global. The China Weekly Hangout discussed on November 15, 2012 with Steven Millward of Tech in Asia those global aspirations.

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