China’s Plans for a Safe Internet

By staff reporter CHEN JUN

This year marks the 20th anniversary of China’s connection with the Internet. Originally a tool for finding information, the Internet has now changed every aspect of daily life, through e-commerce, network gaming, and social media.

Along with the ubiquity of Internet connections comes the problems of information security. According to the Internet Society of China, Internet crimes, including attacks on websites, identity theft and disinformation, inflicted total costs of nearly RMB 150 billion on Chinese netizens in 2013. Several high-profile lapses in information security were disclosed in the first five months of 2014 alone. These included hacking accounts with mobile phone maker Xiaomi, loopholes in Ctrip.com’s payment system, bar code fraud and the OpenSSL Heartbleed bug.

February data from the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center of China (CNCERT) show that up to 2.2 million terminals in China’s mainland were infected by viruses, and 12,428 websites were compromised, exposing 699 security loopholes in the country’s information system.

Qiu Shanqin, chief of China National Software and Integrated Circuit Promotion Center (CSIP) under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and chairman of China OSS Promotion Union (OPU), explained, “National security is empty talk without Internet security. Responding to increasingly complicated threats on the Internet demands top-down efforts that marshal the strength of all parties in a strategic approach and coordinate all relevant departments to strengthen information security capabilities.”

Security issues are growing in severity as the Internet becomes widespread.

Information Security Should Be a National Strategy

After the NSA’s electronic data mining program became public in 2013, the world became more alarmed about Internet security. No country wishes its networks to become an open market. Major countries across the world, including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Russia, have all prepared their own plans for Internet security, elevating the issue to a national security strategy. According to an incomplete tally, more than 50 countries have released Internet security strategies and over 40 have established cyber warfare divisions.

China now has the world’s largest population of Internet users, but still lags in technological sophistication. The PRISM scandal reconfirms its vulnerability to external threats. Protection of information security is a new challenge for the rapidly developing country. Many experts believe that it is imperative that China, the largest developing country and home to the world’s largest internet community, formulate a national Internet security strategy.

The work has already begun. As stated in a recent decision by the Communist Party’s highest deliberative body, “Adhering to the principles of active utilization, scientific development, law-based management and ensured security, we will strengthen management of the Internet in accordance with the law, accelerate the improvement of leadership systems for Internet management, and guarantee the country’s Internet and information security.”