Digital Resilience Is National Defense
China’s military doctrine turns civilian networks into strategic ground. Your digital habits shape the battlefield.
A reader asked me recently: “What can the average layperson actually do in the face of China’s strategic competition?” It’s a fair question. Many sense something big is happening but don’t see how they fit into it.
The challenge is making real threats legible without triggering paranoia or drowning in jargon. Meanwhile, the PRC’s civilian-layer operations expand precisely because most Americans don’t understand how they work or what they can do about them.
This framework helps “regular people” grasp the stakes, why their digital choices matter, and what practical steps anyone can take.
Frame the Problem: “You’re Not the Target, You’re the Terrain”
Most people think espionage only happens to VIPs. In reality, modern conflict treats civilian infrastructure, e.g., apps, hotels, devices, as contested battlefield terrain. This is not theory. PRC military doctrine explicitly calls for using civilian networks and infrastructure as strategic tools, even in peacetime.
China’s doctrine sees cyberspace as a war domain, where everyday infrastructure becomes strategic ground. Phones can be turned into sensors, relays, or mapping tools, allowing digital environments to be shaped well in advance of any conflict.
Bridge to relevance: Every app you install either strengthens American defenses or opens doors for adversaries. You’re part of the competition whether you realize it or not.
Pushback: “But I’m nobody important.”
That’s precisely why you matter. VIPs are monitored. Ordinary people blend in and often carry the same access adversaries want.
In 2017, Chinese hackers breached Equifax, stealing the personal records of 150 million Americans. Compiled at scale, financial and identity data creates a strategic map of society: networks, dependencies, vulnerabilities.
Explain the Hotel Room: Physical Infrastructure Control
People assume security threats happen “somewhere else.” But PRC-linked entities own significant US hospitality, real estate, and telecom assets.
At properties like the Waldorf Astoria, you should assume your room and networks are monitored.
Wi-Fi, smart TVs, even elevators can map devices or inject malware.
Infrastructure used by executives and diplomats doubles as persistent collection platforms.
If every business traveler is exposed in compromised hotels, what exactly are we protecting at home?
Practical steps:
Check ownership of hotels before sensitive meetings
Use dedicated travel devices
Avoid hotel Wi-Fi without VPN
Hold important conversations off-property
Pushback: “Isn’t this just business?”
American firms answer to US law. Chinese state-owned firms answer to Beijing and can be compelled to serve intelligence tasks.
Reframe Data Collection: “Your Metadata Builds Their Weapons”
Privacy warnings often get ignored, but individual data becomes exponentially more powerful when aggregated. Millions of routine records create detailed maps of American infrastructure, behavior, and decision-making patterns.
Location history, movement habits, and app usage all contribute to mapping critical systems
Fitness trackers, home devices, and wearables feed adversarial models of daily life
Aggregated data fuels adversarial insight, enabling targeting, modeling, and disruption at scale.
Practical steps:
Audit app permissions regularly
Separate devices/accounts by function (social, banking, work)
Limit detailed sharing of travel or work locations
Pushback: “Don’t American companies do this too?”
Yes, but US firms are accountable to US law. Chinese firms can be compelled to provide access and services to state intelligence operations without transparency or legal recourse.
TikTok: Pre-Installed Digital Infrastructure
TikTok is best understood as a pre-installed foreign intelligence platform, not a social media app.
TikTok can access cameras, microphones, and location data, even when inactive
Remote updates give Beijing the ability to push new code to millions of American devices instantly
In a crisis, those devices could be used for network mapping, signal jamming, or coordination disruption
Practical steps:
Avoid Chinese-origin apps on any device used for work, banking, or security-related functions
If you choose to use TikTok, isolate it on a dedicated device with no access to sensitive accounts or networks
Understand that isolation reduces exposure, but any compromised device still poses a risk to others on the same network
Pushback: “But it’s just social media.”
So was Facebook, until it became a tool for psychological operations and political disruption. The difference: TikTok’s parent company is legally obligated to cooperate with Chinese state intelligence, with no transparency or oversight.
The analogy that works:
Think of it like the pagers Israel targeted in Lebanon. Everyday devices that seemed harmless until they were activated for strategic purposes. TikTok represents the same capability at massive scale.
From Awareness to Action: Civilian Digital Resilience
Civilian infrastructure is now part of modern conflict. Individual choices shape the resilience of the terrain adversaries are actively trying to exploit.
Three Principles of Civilian Digital Resilience:
Segregate: Keep work, personal, and social activities on separate devices/accounts
Deny access: Avoid risky apps or networks outside US jurisdiction
Think like a node: Your device connects into larger networks. Protecting it protects others
Start simple:
Audit your apps
Use a VPN on public networks
Separate activities by device or account
These are smart habits for contested environments; standard practice among diplomats and executives, and increasingly necessary for everyone else.
Civic Responsibility: Digital Choices as National Service
Americans often think of national security as the government’s job. But in China’s “whole-of-society” competition, civilian infrastructure is not off-limits; it’s a front line.
Modern conflicts begin with who controls the information environment
Hardening your devices denies adversaries easy intelligence wins
Civic duty today includes protecting the digital terrain we all share
Every device you secure and every risky app you decline makes America’s networks more defensible. Resilience begins with responsibility.
Strategic Implications
The civilian digital resilience problem represents a significant gap in American strategic thinking. We’ve spent decades building military cyber capabilities while largely ignoring the civilian infrastructure layer that increasingly determines strategic outcomes.
China’s approach to civilian-layer operations creates asymmetric advantages precisely because most Americans don’t understand they’re participating in strategic competition. Every compromised device, every piece of monitored infrastructure, every successful influence operation builds Beijing’s understanding of American vulnerabilities while degrading our ability to operate securely in contested information environments.
The scale matters enormously. If even 10% of Americans implemented basic digital resilience practices, it would force adversaries to develop more expensive, more detectable approaches to intelligence collection and influence operations. Mass civilian awareness creates defensive depth that no amount of government cybersecurity spending can replicate.
More importantly, civilian digital resilience directly supports traditional national security priorities. Military operations, diplomatic negotiations, and intelligence activities all depend on secure communications and trusted information environments. When civilian infrastructure is comprehensively compromised, it degrades the operational security of government activities that rely on the same networks, devices, and information flows.
Treating civilian cybersecurity as separate from national defense creates exploitable seams across the system. China’s whole-of-society model demands an American strategy that treats civilian resilience as foundational, not optional. So what can regular people do? Start with three habits - audit your apps, use a VPN, and separate work from personal - and you’ve already shifted America’s digital terrain toward resilience.
Got a strategic question or idea worth exploring?
I welcome sharp questions, under-examined angles, and future-post suggestions. Email me directly: inquiries@xinanigans.com