China’s Plans for a Safe Internet

By+staff+reporter+CHEN+JUN

THIS year marks the 20th anniversary of Chinas 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 highprofile 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.coms 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 Chinas mainland were infected by viruses， and 12，428 websites were compromised， exposing 699 security loopholes in the countrys 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.”

Information Security Should Be a National Strategy

After the NSAs 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 worlds 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 worlds largest internet community， formulate a national Inter- net security strategy.

The work has already begun. As stated in a recent decision by the Communist Partys highest deliberative body，“Adhering to the principles of active utilization， scientific development， lawbased 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 countrys Internet and information security.”

Chinas new leadership is also paying unprecedented attention to Internet security. On February 27， 2014 the Central Internet Security and Informatization Leading Group was founded， headed by President Xi Jinping. It is the first time the top leader of the country has directly taken charge of the issue. The establishment of this group indicates that China now has escalated Internet security and informatization to national strategies that it will improve with central planning. The media have remarked on the move as “the awakening of national consciousness about the Internet.”

At the first meeting of the leading group on February 27， President Xi raised the goal to build China into an Internet power. At the first meeting of the National Security Commission on April 15， he elaborated a comprehensive national security plan， composed of 11 factors including information security.

With Internet security now a national priority， China will approach Internet governance and development of cyberspace with clearly defined goals and plans.

Independent Innovation Is the Key

Today the Internet is widely regarded as a “no-gun battleground” where international competition has intensified. And the decisive factor is information security. China is a major victim of online attacks worldwide： more than 3，000 government websites are assaulted by overseas hackers every year. Last February alone 700，000 computers on Chinas mainland were infected by viruses.

The only way to ensure a nations Internet and information security is to establish an independent IT system over which it has full control. “We cannot wait to advance informatization until the Internet is absolutely safe， as there is no such thing as perfect safety，” said Wu Hequan， president of the Internet Society of China. “The righteous can always outdo evil. Security issues can find solutions in the process of development. We should ratchet up support for research and development of Internet and information security technologies and stimulate growth in this industry，” he added.

Self-reliance is key to protecting Internet security， and China is making unrelenting efforts. One example of its success is the Tiansuo K1 system， a faulttolerant high-end server.

In 2008 the Ministry of Science and Technology initiated a special project to develop fault-tolerant high-end host computers under the National Hightech R&D Program. In 2013 Inspur Group unveiled the Tiansuo K1 system， making China the third country after the U.S. and Japan to master the latest host computer technologies. On the basis of Tiansuo K1 the industrial alliance of home-made computer systems took shape， transforming a technological breakthrough into industrial advances. This ushers in a new era of Chinas informatization where the country takes the technologies of core equipment into its own hands.

“Formerly China imported mainframes for key applications. Now the vacuum is filled by the Tiansuo K1， which is of supreme importance to Chinas economic and information security，” said Ni Guangnan， computer scientist at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Yang Xianwu， deputy director general of the High-Tech Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology， also hailed the Tiansuo K1， saying that it broke the foreign monopoly of core IT equipment and reversed Chinas passive position in information technology.

“In the realm of technologies and products supporting Internet security， China has made substantial achievements over recent years. For instance， we have made headway in applying high-end servers， routers， exchanges， storage and domestic-made integrated software，” said CSIP chief Qiu Shanqin. With 44.79 percent of telecom network equipment domestically manufactured and more than half of key control systems supplied by Chinese brands， China now has a solid technological and industrial foundation for handling problems related to Internet security， Mr. Qiu added.

Despite these impressive innovations， China is still far away from the goal set by President Xi Jinping – technologically developed， industrially advanced， safe and reliable， independent and free of external restrictions. In the opinion of Digital China Holdings Limited Chairman and CEO Guo Wei， in addition to independent innovation， China also should actively take part in the formulation of international Internet standards and rules， reversing its passive position on this issue， and increasing its voice over the establishment of the global order of the Internet. This can give China better protection over its Internet sovereignty.

With the advent of 4G networks， information security over the mobile Internet is drawing public attention. The number of Chinese mobile phone users has skyrocketed since 2006， exceeding 1.2 billion in 2013. And most of them browse on smart phones. Wu Hequan believes that the security threat is greater for mobile gadgets than desk computers. To date there are more than 3，000 viruses and 50，000 malware applications targeting smart phones， which， due to their smaller capacity， cannot carry the same level of anti-virus protection as a desktop computer.

Meanwhile， cloud computing and the big data industries that arise with it have incubated a sweeping global technological revolution. An enclosure movement is underway across the world in the construction of cloud computing infrastructures and acquisition of the massive data on the Internet， which are strategic in various countries contention for control of the future information society.

Chinas self-reliant innovation is a long tedious journey. It is predictable that the Chinese government will increase input into information security and ramp up the domestic efforts in information security-related products. This will open fresh growth opportunities for IT manufacturers ranging from CPU and server to network， storage， and mobile equipment.

A Safe and Clean Internet

According to Baidu， the worlds largest Chinese-language search engine， by the end of 2013 there were about 150 billion web pages within Chinese borders， an increase of 27.3 billion， or 22 percent， over 2012. With rapid technological progress， the Internet has become a fixture in daily life. But the online environment is also getting more complicated， with false， illegal or indecent content.

By the end of 2013 Baidu had detected more than 400 million malign websites. “It is more difficult to clean up the online environment than the physical one，” commented Hao Zhichao， deputy chief of the Reporting Section of the Internet Society of China. This， he said， is because， first， the Internet is an open environment that is difficult to monitor and administer； second， the instability of domain names， diversity of technological tricks and absence of a complete protection system all contribute to the perplexity of the security issue of cyber space， and explain the growing numbers of new challenges it faces.

The Chinese government has been persistent in its stance about the Internet – proactively exploring the best use of it and promoting its healthy development， while regulating it according to law. Over the past years China has conducted several “clean net” campaigns. The 2013 round alone busted more than 10，000 websites involved in illegal operations or obscene content.

The momentum goes on this year. On April 13， 2014 the State Internet Information Office， the National Work Group for “Combating Pornography and Illegal Publications，” the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology， and the Ministry of Public Security decided to jointly launch a special project to remove illegal and indecent content online from mid-April to November 2014. By April 20 it had investigated and punished 110 websites and shut 3，300 accounts dissipating pornographic materials， including by well established companies such as Sina and Shenzhen QVOD.

With these proceedings China is expanding its anti-porn campaign from offline to online. “This demonstrates that there is no room in the cyber world for what is prohibited by the law or moral norms in real life，” said Han Jun， vice dean of Journalism and Communication School of Northwest University. She believes that online pornography disturbs social order， poisons public morality and is highly detrimental to minors.

According to Xia Xueluan， a Peking University professor of sociology， some websites spice their content with erotic content to drum up more visits， which bolster their profits. He recommeded stringent measures to sanitize the online environment.

Better Internet governance requires a sound legal system. Wu Hequan disclosed that over the past decade China promulgated more than 200 Internetrelated laws， statutes and regulations. But it still lags behind other countries in legislation relevant to information， which has failed to meet the demand of Internet development in the country.

Some scholars have proposed that China should embrace a dynamic and inclusive information security conception and place equal emphasis on prevention and punishment in the making of Internet-related laws. The rights and obligations of all major parties in the cyber world must be clearly defined， and the legal duties of Internet service providers clarified. Furthermore， law enforcement should be strengthened， with heavier penalties for online crimes such as hacking and exposure of private， state or commercial secrets.