i-SOON: “Significant Superpower” or Just Getting the Job Done?

Moving beyond a purely technical focus on TTPs and infrastructure, a business analysis of People, Process, and Technology shows i-SOON’s strengths and limitations

The previous Natto Thoughts report on the recent leak of documents from the Chinese IT company i-SOON discussed the complex network of China’s information security companies and their precarious relationship with their “clients.” As we understand, all these companies, no matter whether we call them “hackers-for-hire” or “commercial hacking industry,” are ultimately businesses with profit as their bottom line, as the Natto Team told The Wire China. Therefore, it is helpful for us to look into i-SOON as a case study using the 60-year-old “People, Process, Technology” (PPT) Framework to assess its business operation, how it got its business done and whether it was successful or not. A business-focused analysis of the i-SOON case study can shed a new light on China’s state-sponsored cyber operations. (On types of state-associated cyber operations, see the Natto Team posting “Wazawaka & Co., Part 2: Patriotic Hacker”)