Earlier this year, the Philippine Army put out an unusual call on Facebook, inviting civilian hackers to join its cybersecurity unit. “We have a greater enemy that wants to devour us. Do we want to let them?” Joey Fontiveros, founding commander of the Cyber Battalion, said in a Facebook Reel that has been viewed over 2 million times. “Why not join us?”

The Philippines is among the countries most vulnerable to cyber attacks, with tens of thousands of cyber threats targeting its government agencies, academic institutions, and corporations in recent years. Cyber attacks on the email servers and websites of the Philippine Coast Guard and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. this year were traced to China, authorities said. China has denied this.

In response to the threats, the Philippine government has adopted a new five-year national cybersecurity plan, formed a defense network with the U.S. and Japan, and asked the military to reinforce the security of its systems. The Cyber Battalion, which was set up in 2020, was initially staffed by soldiers. The army then decided to actively recruit civilians. It targets young IT professionals who may be open to lower wages for greater job security and the pride of working for the nation, Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Alejandro, the Cyber Battalion’s commander, told Rest of World.

“The cyber practitioners in our military force are very limited. We need a lot more,” Alejandro said. “Our limitation is we cannot afford to offer the same benefits as private and multinational companies. [But] joining the Philippine Army through the Cyber Battalion is a way of helping the country for our young bloods.”

The Cyber Battalion currently has a staff of about 120. The unit has so far hired about 70 civilian experts in their 20s and 30s. Civilian recruits receive months-long training, including the basics of life in the military, such as morning calls, exercise drills, and some weapons training. The viral Facebook Reel, a part of this year’s recruitment drive, drew nearly 5,000 comments and inquiries. Several filed job applications, Alejandro said.

The job itself is “very taxing, very challenging,” said Fontiveros, who is now commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Cyber Group, a unit serving the military headquarters. “You look at your monitor without even the nerve to blink because you are seeing all the traffic that’s there,” he said.

It’s a very different kind of job from those in tech, financial services, telecoms, or insurance that Filipino IT graduates generally flock to. The IT industry employs around 1.5 million workers, according to the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines. Some 850,000 fresh college graduates enter the industry every year; few are trained in cyber threats.

Worldwide, cybercrime cost companies an estimated $8 trillion in 2023, a number that is expected to triple by 2027. Last year in the Philippines, ransomware group Medusa broke into the systems of state insurer PhilHealth and leaked the personal data, including sensitive information such as government IDs and bank account details, of an estimated 42 million members when the government refused to pay the $300,000 ransom. Private health insurer Maxicare and fast food chain Jollibee have also reported data breaches that affected millions of customers.

Across Southeast Asia, Chinese state-sponsored threat groups have targeted government and private-sector organizations, according to a 2023 report from Microsoft and intelligence firm Recorded Future. These include malware, distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks, data leaks, and compromised websites and reflect Beijing’s geopolitical ambitions in the region, analysts said. Tensions have been running high between Beijing and Manila, in particular, as both states assert their claim over the resource-rich waters of the disputed South China Sea.

So “it’s not surprising that when there’s a flare-up in the South China Sea, then you would have a flare-up in cyberspace,” Miguel Gomez, a cybersecurity researcher at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, told Rest of World. The Philippine military “doesn’t have nearly enough skilled manpower to cover all their bases. That’s a big problem.”

The Chinese embassy in Manila earlier said accusations that it engaged in cyber attacks against the Philippines were “groundless.” China “firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyber attack in accordance with law, allows no country or individual to engage in cyber attack and other illegal activities on Chinese soil or using Chinese infrastructure,” it said.

Simply hiring civilian hackers is not going to solve the cyber threat problem, Sherwin Ona, an associate professor of political science at the De La Salle University in Manila, told Rest of World. The government needs to set a baseline for cybersecurity and regularly conduct audits and risk assessments, he said.

“Cyber readiness initiatives are just now beginning to grow teeth,” Ona said. “However, it’s an uphill climb.”

Still, the efforts appear to be paying off. The Philippines has improved its ranking in the United Nations Global Cybersecurity Index this year. Authorities said the progress can be attributed to the focus on strengthening cybersecurity, building capacity, and collaborating with other countries. But they also noted that the constant brain drain, with IT professionals leaving the country, posed a “big challenge.”

The Armed Forces has set up a new entity called the Cyber Command to improve coordination among the military’s cybersecurity units. Civilians will be a part of this program too. “We will recruit cyber warriors,” General Romeo Brawner, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told reporters. “This new breed of warriors does not have to be muscle strong.”

The army hopes to recruit more civilians like Ferdinand Lazarte. The 31-year-old IT executive had always wanted to serve his country, like several of his family members who worked in the military and police force, he told Rest of World.

“My first goal was just to contribute, to be able to create a system and say, ‘I made this,’” he said. He began as a penetration tester in 2020, performing simulated cyber attacks to spot vulnerabilities, then became a forensic investigator and instructor at the Cyber Battalion. He also helped create a platform for cyber exercises and a virtual private network for the Philippine Army.

After four years, he has a bigger role than he would have had in a similar job in the private sector, he said, and is eyeing a promotion. “I enjoy the work, and I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I see the importance of it.”

In Eason Lin’s cramped one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, the living room is a maze of hundreds of boxes. All of the packages will soon ship out to Americans who shop on Temu and TikTok Shop. 

Lin, 28, hails from a small town in China’s southeastern province of Fujian and arrived in New York in 2022. Lin worked as a waiter at Chinese restaurants for a few months but grew frustrated with the grueling hours and low pay. When he heard the logistics industry was thriving, he saw an opportunity. He turned his small living room into a makeshift warehouse, offering order fulfillment services to sellers in Shenzhen, China’s e-commerce hub. 

“It’s a comfortable job,” says Lin, who wakes up each morning to check orders, print shipping labels, and pack items. He transports packages on foot, either in a backpack or on a trolley, to a nearby post office, since he doesn’t own a car. For every package he processes, he charges Chinese sellers about $1.

“I can potentially make it really big,” Lin said, hopeful despite the modest earnings. Although Lin struggles with spoken English, he is able to converse with postal workers and call shipping companies to negotiate rates on bulk orders.

Many sellers ship orders directly from China to the U.S. to keep prices low. But the U.S. government’s moves to crack down on cheap e-commerce parcels from China have pushed sellers to rethink their business strategies. Rather than relying on long-distance shipping, many now use commercial logistics companies or small warehouses like Lin’s. 

As demand for warehouses soars, many cross-border sellers are finding it more cost-effective to store their goods in the U.S. This shift is driven by the rapid growth of e-commerce platforms like Temu, Shein, and TikTok, which have made it easier for small Chinese manufacturers to tap into the American market.

On Chinese social media platforms Xiaohongshu and Douyin, dozens of accounts are advertising so-called “family warehouses,” located in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Austin. They offer fulfillment service, which means shipping out packages whenever orders are placed. They also discard excess inventory and returns. Some help re-label Amazon products when the corresponding listings or accounts get blocked, so the goods can be shipped back to Amazon warehouses under new listings. 

The business operators include ambitious entrepreneurs who hope to one day run industrial warehouses and stay-at-home mothers who treat the job as a side gig. Kara Li, a 46-year-old mother of two in Los Angeles, said she is currently storing several hundred packages of comforters and lingerie in her garage. Like Lin, she prints out shipping labels and brings the goods to a UPS store every day. 

Li, who immigrated to America years ago, told Rest of World that most of her Chinese clients were beginners in the cross-border e-commerce industry. They couldn’t afford working with bigger warehouses, which charge extra fees if the goods are not sold out in time. Li said she offers more flexibility with storage time, as long as she has enough space in her garage. “It’s not a lot of money,” she said. “It’s just I need to take care of the children, and there are no other suitable jobs.” 

Similarly, Oliver Liang, 35, operates a fulfillment business, called Logixter, out of his Los Angeles garage. Liang moved to the U.S. 12 years ago as a student. After obtaining his doctoral degree in data analytics and working for a large e-commerce company, he launched the logistics startup at home. Liang now spends more than 10 hours a day managing inventory and liaising with clients in China. He also handles returns for Amazon sellers, sorting through products that can be resold.

“It’s less risky to start the business at home,” Liang told Rest of World. “Once I get more clients, I’ll look to rent a larger space.”

The business model has been around since the early 2000s, when e-commerce entrepreneurs sold made-in-China goods directly to Americans by having them stored in the homes of Chinese students, according to Hu Jianlong, founder of Shenzhen consultancy Brands Factory. Since then, massive warehouses and fulfillment centers have emerged as part of the booming e-commerce industry. 

Amazon now owns hundreds of million square feet of industrial real estate, where the company manages inventory and sorts out packages for final delivery. “The large and medium-sized sellers will work with professional logistics,” Hu told Rest of World. “Small and micro sellers cannot afford that, and they will go to family warehouses.” 

Sellers say they sometimes prefer working with family-run warehouses because of their low prices and willingness to handle small batches of goods. Onism Chen, a Shenzhen-based Amazon seller, said he recently shipped to a family warehouse more than 300 bubble guns that were no longer popular on Amazon. The family warehouse offered to buy up the toys at $3 each, because it could re-sell the toys to local stores. “These family operations are cheaper to deal with,” Chen told Rest of World. 

Despite strained U.S.-China relations, the American consumer market remains a top growth driver for Chinese e-commerce companies. Temu’s gross merchandise value totaled about $12 billion in the second quarter of 2024, according to a report from Chinese tech outlet 36Kr. The U.S. accounted for about 45% of sales, the report said.

Thanks to a “de minimis” rule that allows parcels under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free, small sellers have in the past shipped packages to the U.S. by air. Although delivery takes two weeks or longer, they can avoid the high costs of storing inventory in America. 

But the U.S. government recently announced a crackdown on the de minimis shipments to protect American businesses from the low-value goods from China. The regulatory change would likely commence before Donald Trump takes office, a former White House official said at a webinar. Analysts say the crackdown will pressure more platforms and sellers to store goods in the U.S., which also helps shorten delivery time. 

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While family warehouses are meeting some of the demand, their capacities are limited and make up a fraction of e-commerce logistics, according to Juozas Kaziukėnas, founder of e-commerce analyst firm Marketplace Pulse. “As sellers become more successful, they will inevitably need larger space and more volume,” Kaziukėnas said. “So your bedroom service will very quickly run out of capacity.”

Industrial real-estate operator Prologis estimates that Chinese logistics and e-commerce companies accounted for 20% of net new warehouse leasing in the U.S. this year through the third quarter, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Temu itself has partnered with several fulfillment companies in the U.S. to encourage sellers to store inventory there. Ben Pu, founder of warehousing and fulfillment company ShipSage, a Temu partner, said many Temu sellers were factories new to the cross-border industry and had struggled to understand the logistics and the fees involved. “We must adapt,” Pu told Rest of World. His company manages 700,000 square feet in warehouses. “We are simplifying the process and pricing to help them quickly start selling in America.” Shein has also set up its own warehouses in the U.S. 

On a Monday morning in November, Lin printed out new shipping labels in front of his desk, behind stacks of boxes that contained wallpaper, lunch bags, utensil organizers, and sex toys. In his spare time, Lin watches American movies and TV series to improve his English.

He said the money he made from his warehouse business is not even enough to cover his $950 rent, but he hopes to profit when volume picks up. He is now looking to run a warehouse of about 2,000 to 4,000 square feet. Some of his potential clients sell auto parts and furniture, Lin said, and there’s no way his Brooklyn living room can handle those goods. “The economic slowdown in China is driving so many sellers into cross-border e-commerce,” he said. “That’s good news for both big warehouses and small warehouses.”