Offense as Defense: Choosing a Path Different from 98% of Cybersecurity Companies | BlueRun Ventures Dialogues with "Vackbot (墨云科技)"

Among BlueRun Ventures' portfolio of "little giant" companies, Moyun Technology stands out as a particularly representative case. While most cybersecurity firms on the market focus on "defense," Moyun chose to go on the "offense" — using AI to simulate hackers and test companies' IT security capabilities and readiness.

Moyun Technology founder Bing Liu

It was a direction that initially faced deep skepticism, but the company has since won over clients across finance, government, telecom, and energy — and earned recognition as a Beijing "little giant" enterprise. In this edition of BlueRun Dialogues, we spoke with Bing Liu about his unconventional path.

1

"Fewer than 10 companies worldwide were doing this"

BlueRun Ventures: Welcome to BlueRun Dialogues! Let's get straight to it — tell us about Moyun Technology and why you chose to focus on offensive cybersecurity.

Bing Liu: Moyun Technology is a startup researching AI applications in offensive cybersecurity. We provide enterprises with proactive attack simulation and security testing services. Our flagship product is the Virtual Hacker Bot, which delivers automated security attack detection on client networks.

At the time, very few companies were working on the offensive side, let alone "AI + offense." On one hand, there was little competition, so success would naturally make us a leader. But the downside was equally clear: with no comparable companies, there was no straightforward way to benchmark our progress.

When we researched the space, fewer than 10 companies globally were pursuing this direction, mostly Israeli and American startups that had themselves only launched around 2014 — none were anywhere near IPO. Yet we chose the harder path, one that diverged from 98% of the industry.

The risk was substantial. I told my team: either we don't do this at all, or we commit to something no one has done before.

BlueRun Ventures: Could you briefly explain what "AI + offense" means?

Bing Liu: This is roughly a $600 billion market, with the vast majority of services still delivered manually. Whoever solves the automation problem can capture significant share. The transformation lies in using automation to complement human effort — and in many cases, replace it for complex, repetitive tasks. High-volume, high-concurrency execution makes operations far more efficient, freeing people to tackle harder problems.

Moyun's philosophy is to minimize human dependency wherever possible. Full automation where feasible; semi-automation where some human judgment remains necessary.

Features of Moyun's Virtual Hacker Bot (Vackbot)

2

"The market is massive — persistent technical investment will pay off"

BlueRun Ventures: Did the market understand Moyun's choice at the time?

Bing Liu: Fundraising in the early days was genuinely difficult. BlueRun's investment was the reward for our persistence. I believe the real reward for entrepreneurs is watching an idea gradually become reality — that process itself is deeply fulfilling. We were unwavering in our conviction that AI applied to cyber offense and defense would become a massive market. I firmly believed that with sufficient technical accumulation and persistence, the returns would come.

Today we serve leading clients in telecom, finance, government-enterprise, and energy. Their security teams are largely overseas returnees with IT backgrounds, choosing newer, more specialized technologies to protect their information assets. This proves China has entered a new phase of IT transformation. These top-tier clients have shown genuine enthusiasm for innovative technology companies like Moyun.

BlueRun Ventures: What does Moyun's development path look like?

Bing Liu: First, it will be technology-driven and algorithm-driven — that's core. Second, we want to deliver capabilities online. By deploying our technology and services on the cloud, we can offer remote online services to large enterprises for their external networks and to SMEs, enabling them to better assess their own security posture. So I see us becoming a cloud security company.

BlueRun Ventures: Moyun is a deeply technical company. For a technology-leading firm, what matters most?

Bing Liu: First, talent — we need enough exceptional people to pursue breakthrough technologies. Second, shared purpose — everyone pulling in the same direction. Third, customer success — our technology must create real value in user scenarios and solve actual problems. Get these right, and long-term development follows.

BlueRun Ventures: You're also from a technical background, if I recall.

Bing Liu: I started as a programmer — wrote Java, wrote C. I spent 10 years at Digital China before founding Moyun, and I kept thinking about whether there was a service product that could build sustained engagement with users. Something where if I sell it to you this year, you'll need it again next year. Only service products have that characteristic. So I always wanted to build a service product. I didn't overthink it at the time, but later realized this direction holds real value for society and for the country.

BlueRun Ventures: Another technical question — what methods does Moyun use to improve efficiency in replacing manual work with bots?

Bing Liu: We divide network risk validation into three dimensions. First, external network penetration. Second, internal network penetration — primarily operating systems, databases, and the like. Third, validation of defensive equipment effectiveness — firewalls, WAFs, and so on. Across these three dimensions, we've built in over 36,000 validation and exploitation components that continuously test client networks. If we can break through, the network isn't secure.

3

"Someone has to be willing to persist for the dream"

BlueRun Ventures: People say entrepreneurship requires passion. Are you someone with an "impulsive" streak?

Bing Liu: As I mentioned, coming from programming, technical thinking tends to make you somewhat "stubborn" — slow to warm up, not necessarily decisive with thunderous authority. But I'm also not quick to react to many situations.

I'm not particularly impulsive, but not overly conservative either — somewhere in between. So I wouldn't impulsively pivot to a new track. I'm more inclined to persist. From founding to now, we've certainly experimented and made mistakes, but we've never abandoned our direction because it became unsustainable.

BlueRun Ventures: So "persistence" matters more.

Bing Liu: Persistence is critical for startups. Sometimes it's not that you chose the wrong direction — you just didn't persist. You gave up because of others' doubts; you gave up because you hit walls with users. When everyone is questioning you, don't question yourself. Hold to your vision and direction.

As BlueRun puts it, "Undefined, daring to be first" — my interpretation is: on one hand, do what others haven't done; on the other hand, persist. This might take 5 or even 10 years to succeed. But someone has to be willing to work and persist for that dream, turning possibility into reality.

Further Reading BlueRun Ventures closes new RMB 5.5 billion dual-currency fund BlueRun May Newsletter | Remember Why You Started

Moyun Technology raises another 100 million RMB in Series B+ to deepen its focus on intelligent cyber offense and defense | BlueRun Ventures

BlueRun Ventures was founded in 1998 in Silicon Valley. BlueRun Ventures China was established in 2005 and focuses on early-stage venture capital.

Currently, BlueRun Ventures China manages multiple USD and RMB dual-currency funds with over RMB 15 billion in assets under management, making it one of the largest early-stage funds in China. It invests primarily at Pre-A and Series A across hard tech and innovative interaction, enterprise technology, new consumer, and healthcare, with over 150 portfolio companies including Li Auto, Waterdrop, QingCloud, Guazi Used Cars, Qudian, Songguo Mobility, Ganji.com, Energy Monster, Yuntu Semiconductor, Machenike, CloudShen Intelligence, Anxin Network Shield, and BioMap.

BlueRun Ventures has been ranked #1 on Zero2IPO's "China Top 30 Early-Stage Investment Institutions" and ChinaVenture's "China Best Early-Stage Venture Capital Firms TOP30," and named among Preqin's Top 10 global VC fund managers for sustained high returns.

The firm has also received consecutive recognition from Forbes China, 36Kr, Cyzone, Caixin Media, CBNweekly, Jiemian, and other media as "China Early-Stage Firm of the Year," "China Top-Tier Venture Capital Firm," "Most Entrepreneur-Friendly Early-Stage Firm," and "Most Influential Early-Stage Firm."