INSIDE HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL'S McArthur Hall, executive MBA student and CEO Kevin Mandia held a 60-page report in his hands and weighed a risky decision: Should he go public with the document, a detailed expose of Chinese theft of American trade secrets, based on seven years of work for nearly 150 corporate clients? The report's allegations - that a Chinese military unit was likely engaged in systematic hacking and surveillance of U.S. companies - not only would make Mandia and his young cyber-security firm a target for potential retaliation but would also test Washington's already strained relations with Beijing. The 42-year-old former Air Force intelligence officer had a high tolerance for risk, but as he pondered his options that February evening, he wasn't sure that disclosure was a smart move. "We'd have a gigantic bull's-eye on our back," he kept thinking.
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