Tom Hegel

Cyber Soft Power: China’s Continental Takeover

This presentation provides an examination of China’s strategic use of technological soft-power strategies, with a specific emphasis on its transformative influence via the Digital Silk Road in shaping future global dynamics. We dive into China’s multifaceted approaches to assert authority and reliance, meticulously abusing the interconnected dynamics of technology, culture, and economics across the African continent. We analyze the intricacies of China’s approach aimed at tactically investing across the content, cultivating reliance on its technological ecosystem, amplifying the CCPs influence, and how it is ultimately supported through offensive cyber operations.

Tom Hegel is a Senior Threat Researcher with SentinelLabs, the security research and intelligence team of SentinelOne. He is focused on making a positive impact in the industry by advancing cyber threat intelligence through his public disclosures, security publications, and humanitarian cybersecurity research helping vulnerable communities, impacted businesses, and targeted individuals across the globe.

He is a successful publisher of numerous threat intelligence related discoveries of cyberespionage groups, cybercrime gangs, and high-profile global events impacted by the technology threat landscape. Tom has researched historical and ongoing threat activity in efforts to provide defense aid against attackers of high-value targets, including individuals and organizations across public and private sectors.