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Former Florida Techie’s Elite Chinese Hacking School Exposed

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Former Florida Techie’s Elite Chinese Hacking School Exposed


A Wuhan-based school that claims to offer aspiring hackers professional information security training has grown into an apparent headhunting hub for Chinese government hacking groups, according to a new investigation.

The Wuhan Kerui Cracking Academy is likely training hackers and funneling them into Chinese intelligence hacking shops at the Ministry of State Security (MSS), according to a Thursday report from “Intrusion Truth,” a mysterious persona bent on exposing Chinese government hacking groups.

The Daily Beast can reveal that the man at the helm of the Kerui Cracking Academy training operation—identified in the report as Qian Linsong—once lived in St. Petersburg, Florida while working for American tech company Thinking Systems Corporation. The company offers software developments services for medical imaging, including for customers in China, according to its website.

A biography of Qian posted on Wuhan University’s website indicates that he moved to the U.S. in the early 2000s, and photos published in the report show him attending events with the Thinking Systems Corporation logo visible in the backdrop.

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Just a few years later, Qian moved back to China and founded the alleged spy school, according to Intrusion Truth.

“Established in 2007, the Kerui Cracking Academy prides itself on providing its students the best information security training in the industry, including the ‘most professional reverse security course’ as part of its curriculum,” the report says. “So confident is the school of its teaching abilities that it tells prospective students not to worry about finding a job—in fact ‘almost 100% of students get a job within one month.’ Impressive!”

The Wuhan Kerui Cracking Academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast about the school and its founder. The head of Thinking Systems Corporation did not respond to The Daily Beast by time of publication.

The so-called “Professor X” appears to be leading somewhat of a double life, according to Intrusion Truth. On the one hand, he works as a part-time teacher at the National Cyber Security College of Wuhan University, a tutor at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and the Vice Chairman of Quanzhou Artificial Intelligence Society, according to the investigation.

On the other, he also moonlights at an intelligence-linked company, according to Intrusion Truth, running a company called Kerui Reverse Technology Company. The company says on its website that it has been providing “technical services for many projects of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security,” according to Intrusion Truth.

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“It is safe to assume that Qian is no stranger to working with Chinese intelligence services,” the Intrusion Truth blog states.“We couldn’t help but wonder whether Qian’s cooperation with the MSS runs a little deeper. Is Qian supplying the MSS with freshly trained hackers? Or even up-skilling hackers the MSS have found?”

Wuhan Kerui is very famous in the circle and is very professional in reverse engineering.

The MSS often relies on contractors for its hacking operations, which opens them up to some exposure since those contractors like to boast that they work for the Chinese government, John Hultquist, who has been tracking similar Chinese hacking operations for years, told The Daily Beast.

“One of the interesting things that we see again and again is MSS relying on contractors who oftentimes openly advertise they’re working with them,” said Hultquist, the Vice President of Intelligence Analysis at cybersecurity firm Mandiant.

Kerui Cracking Academy appears to keep track of where its graduates go to work, according to its website, revealing that many of their places of work must be kept secret. Some of their graduates are marked as “confidential,” according to pages reviewed by The Daily Beast.

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Reviews posted on the suspected Kerui Cracking Academy website show students are grateful to have attended, and found the work “not as difficult as you think.”

One student said they began studying at Kerui with very little understanding of computers and programming, but now thinks they have lived up to their family’s expectations.

Another student, whose graduation destination is listed as “confidential,” said a “big guy” in Beijing told them that Kerui is well-known, which prompted them to attend.

“A big guy came back from Beijing. His annual salary is one million. I chatted with him about participating in the training,” the student said, according to a student review seen by The Daily Beast. “He said that Wuhan Kerui is very famous in the circle and is very professional in reverse engineering.”

Mystery group

The cheeky investigation is just the latest from the mysterious Intrusion Truth, which has been publishing blogs working to undermine and expose the most prominent Chinese government hacking entities since 2017.

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In some cases, it has revealed names, photos, and other details about individuals allegedly hacking at the behest of the Chinese government. One 2020 investigation exposed front companies for Chinese government hacking operations.

Some blog reports have aligned with or appeared to inform U.S. government investigations into the most prolific hacking from China.

Two individuals exposed in one investigation in 2017, including Wu Yingzhuo—who went by the alias “Christ Wu”—and Dong Hao, for instance, were later charged by U.S. authorities for hacks against U.S. businesses in Pennsylvania and in the financial, engineering, and technology industries.

This latest investigation appears to expose hackers working for a Chinese cyber-espionage group known as APT31, which goes after government entities, international financial organizations, and aerospace and defense organizations, according to cybersecurity firm Mandiant. The hackers typically focus on collecting information that can provide Chinese state companies with political, economic, or military advantages.

While Intrusion Truth doesn’t explicitly say it is exposing APT31, the blog tags the post as an APT31 investigation. The U.K. government accused the MSS of supporting APT31 in 2021.

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In the report, Intrusion Truth noted that Qian had spent time in the United States working for an American company in his 20s, without mentioning the state he was living in or his employer at the time.

The group did, however, post a photo of Qian allegedly taken when he visited Disney World. It sussed out his interest in starting the apparent MSS hacker feeder school, claiming that at a young age he began downloading hacking software to experiment with at home—just as China-U.S. hacking began surging.



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Authorities identify 78-year-old Florida man accused of fatally striking teen with boat

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Authorities identify 78-year-old Florida man accused of fatally striking teen with boat


Investigators have identified the man who was operating the boat that fatally struck a 15-year-old girl off a South Florida beach and then left the area, but no criminal charges have been filed, according to a report released Wednesday.

The 78-year-old man owns the Coral Gables home where Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers found and seized the docked boat Tuesday afternoon. The man was the only occupant in the boat at the time of Saturday’s hit-and-run crash that left Ella Adler dead, according to the commission’s report.

US COAST GUARD SUSPENDS SEARCH FOR MISSING FLORIDA DIVER: ‘DEEPLY SADDENED’

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesperson said the investigation was active and they couldn’t speculate on what charges might be filed.

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Florida authorities have identified the 78-year-old Coral Gables man accused of fatally striking a teenage girl with his boat and leaving the scene. (FOX News)

Adler and another girl were wakeboarding behind a 42-foot Hanse Fjord walk-around near Key Biscayne, just south of Miami, on Saturday afternoon before falling off at different spots, officials said. A dozen people had been on the boat pulling Adler. Before the vessel could return to collect her, Adler was hit by another boat, which immediately sped away, officials said. Witnesses described the hit-and-run craft as a center console boat with a light blue hull, multiple white outboard engines and blue bottom paint.

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A funeral service for Adler was held Monday morning at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach. Adler was a freshman at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove and a ballerina with the Miami City Ballet.



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Cormani McClain Transfers to Florida After 1 Season with Deion Sanders, Colorado

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Cormani McClain Transfers to Florida After 1 Season with Deion Sanders, Colorado


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Cornerback Cormani McClain is transferring to Florida after one season at Colorado, his agent told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg on Wednesday.

McClain was rated as a 5-star recruit by 247Sports, as well as the No. 14 overall player and No. 1 cornerback in the 2023 recruiting class.

He chose to play under Pro Football Hall of Fame corner Deion Sanders at Colorado, and as a freshman in 2023, McClain started four of the nine games he appeared in, recording 13 tackles and two passes defended.

Upon entering the transfer portal after the 2023 season, 247Sports rated McClain as the No. 21 overall transfer and the No. 5 cornerback in the portal.

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This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.



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Florida is one of America’s highest generators of plastic waste

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Florida is one of America’s highest generators of plastic waste


Littering, particularly plastic pollution, remains a bigger Florida problem than most of us think. The recent viral video depicting a group of young boaters polluting the waters off Lake Boca during the annual Boca Bash event has brought the problem into clearer focus. Here are three reasons why Floridians should care about littering and its impact on Florida and the world:

1. Florida, according to a 2023 study by Florida International University, is the nation’s third-highest generator of plastic waste. The state produces more plastic waste than the current recycling system can process. Its 8% recycling rate has gone down, despite increasing initiatives to improve recycling.

2. Florida remains among 19 states that, according to 2023 data compiled by the Retail Industry Leaders Association, have placed restrictions on regulating plastic carryout bags.

3. Some 33 billion pounds of plastic enter oceans every year, according to Plastic Free Florida, an organization of volunteers taking action to curb plastic pollution in the state. That amount is roughly the equivalent of dumping two garbage trucks full of plastic into the oceans every minute. At that rate, the 2016 World Economic Forum report predicted, the world’s oceans could soon hold more plastic than fish.

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