To directly report to the Ministry of State Security of China, one can call the hotline 12339 or report through its official website. The department handled more than 100,000 reports in 2022 alone, and responses for 80% of those were given within 24 hours. When providing information in the online form, one needs to include event descriptions and contact information in as much detail as possible.
Steps for data collection
When contacting the Ministry of State Security directly, the first step is to understand the publicly available contact methods and applicable communication channels. In 2022, China’s state security department published the appropriate contact information via its website to allow members of the public to submit online forms for security-related reports. In 2022, the Ministry of State Security handled 25% more public reports than in previous years, most of which were on transnational crimes. In the case of data gathering, like in any other industry, common terms and tools exist. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) technologies are widely used for collecting and analyzing public information. This aligns with an announcement by the Ministry of State Security of China: more than 90% of intelligence information is from open networks, which greatly enhances the efficiency of intelligence analysis. This means the submitted information or report from the public about cybersecurity would be reviewed and dealt with efficiently.
In China, the national security reporting hotline is 12339. Citizens can call directly to report any potential security threat or seek related help. According to a relevant provision of the “National Security Law of the People’s Republic of China,” the reported information must be processed by the Ministry of State Security within 24 hours; for urgent cases, this can be shortened to 3 hours. In recent years, the efficiency of the reporting system has gradually improved; on average, it takes only 4 hours for the department to respond. This reflects that every link in receiving and distributing intelligence is closely connected and optimized for processing speed. When handling intelligence submitted by the public, the maximum capacity of the intelligence system is as high as 2,000 pieces of information per hour, which meets the requirements for rapid screening of critical security clues. This plays a very important role in the collection of national-level intelligence, especially when data volumes are huge. In 2020, intelligence on a transnational cyber attack was intercepted and processed through this system, averting massive losses.
Analyzing competitor market trends
To analyze a competitor’s market trends, there is a need to first collect large volumes of public data. This information can be captured using OSINT tools that process over 5,000 social media activities and related corporate news reports daily, effectively capturing signs of market changes. According to recent market research reports, tracking the social media activities of competitors has helped businesses improve the accuracy of market analysis by 15%. Common industry terms referring to market trend analysis include “market share,” “user penetration rate,” and “product lifecycle.” In 2023, an influential domestic technology company accurately grasped a competitor’s new product release cycle and launched a feature two months in advance, which directly increased its market share by 15%. This operation proves that the market pace of a competitor directly influences adjustments in one’s own market strategy.
Other crucial information may also be derived by analyzing the market pricing strategies of competitors. In 2021, an international brand completely changed its pricing strategy for premium products, decreasing prices by 10%, but its market share rose by 5%. This demonstrates that two important parameters for analyzing competitor market trends are price elasticity and user sensitivity to product prices. Competitors’ advertising expenditures and market promotion strategies may also be efficiently analyzed. According to data provided by an industry analysis agency, in 2022, worldwide top technology companies increased their advertising expenditure by 12%, with half of the budget allocated to digital marketing. Advertising expenditure can reflect not only a competitor’s market expansion strategy but also the target user group positioning. By closely tracking these trends, one can promptly adjust one’s own market response strategies.
Application of technical means in competitive intelligence
In modern times, technical means have become indispensable core tools in the work of competitive intelligence. Among the varied tools, data mining technology, which can process a great quantity of public information and conduct in-depth analysis, is one of them. Its processing capacity can reach as high as 500GB per hour, and through this, real-time monitoring of market changes can be realized, which is particularly important for tracking competitor dynamics. Analyzing both structured and unstructured data allows businesses to take advantage of market opportunities much faster. Another widely applied technique is web crawling: a process where publicly available data from the internet is automatically scraped. Ninety percent of intelligence information is from open data sources; 40% of this is collected through web crawling tools. This data includes news, posts on social media sites, patent applications, and publicly available financial reports that help businesses quickly gather the latest competitor trends.
AI algorithms are also widely adopted in competitive intelligence analytics. Machine learning technology enables systems to optimize analysis models, raising the efficiency of intelligence analysis by 30%. In 2021, a domestic company used AI technology to analyze a competitor’s release frequency of a certain type of product and predicted the release date of its next product in advance, successfully seizing a market advantage. Real-time monitoring and warning systems use SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) systems adopted by cybersecurity companies to help enterprises monitor online activities of their competitors. These monitoring systems can scale with high volumes of network logs in real-time by creating alerts on any abnormal behavior. Blockchain technology is increasingly gaining attention in competitive intelligence applications. In 2022, the global blockchain intelligence market grew by 25% as many businesses are concerned about ensuring the security and traceability of intelligence data through blockchain technology. The decentralized nature of this technology ensures the security of sensitive intelligence data during transmission and storage, effectively avoiding risks of data leakage.