China Information Technology Security Evaluation Center

The China Information Technology Security Evaluation Center (Chinese: 中国信息安全测评中心; CNITSEC, SNIT-sec) is the cover identity of the 13th Bureau of the Ministry of State Security, the information technology component of China's civilian spy agency which houses much of its technical cyber expertise. The bureau manages much of the conduct of cyberespionage for the agency, and provides aid to the many advanced persistent threats (APTs) run directly by the agency, by its semi-autonomous provincial State Security Departments (SSD) and municipal State Security Bureaus (SSB), and by contractors. In support of provincial state and party leadership, the bureau also runs its own semi-autonomous provincial Information Technology Security Evaluation Centers (ITSEC) in collaboration with provincial counterparts. In the past these ITSECs have been identified collaborating with APTs run by provincial state security units.