Blocking hackers

With the rapid development of Internet technology, hackers are also upgrading their methods of stealing information from the Internet. According to Yang Heqing, Deputy Director of the Office for Economic Law of the Legislative Affairs Commission under the National People’s Congress, China has the largest netizen population, and is also one of the countries facing the most serious hacker attacks.

The Annual Report on the Internet Security 2016 issued by Chinese IT giant Tencent shows that its antivirus lab discovered 148 million new types of Internet virus in 2016, 67 percent higher than 2012.

In May, the Wannacry ransom software swept the world. The hackers behind the attack demanded money after encrypting computer users’ files and locking them out of their computers. Incomplete statistics showed that tens of thousands of computers in over 150 countries have been attacked. In China alone, more than $60,000 had gone from Chinese Internet users to the hacker’s pockets within 96 hours after Wannacry virus broke out.

“The Wannacry attack has come to an end, but the global cybersecurity situation is still not optimistic,” Niu Shuai, a research fellow of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told Chinafrica.

This globetrotting ransom software was allegedly adapted from stolen cyber weapons developed by the U.S. National Security Agency. Insiders noted that protecting key information infrastructure is the most urgent task worldwide to prevent ransom software like Wannacry from operating. The key information infrastructure refers to the information system and controlling system in key industries such as energy, telecommunications, finance, transportation and e-government service. Once the key information infrastructure is hacked, it will lead to great losses to various aspects of a country, and even the entire world.

The Cybersecurity Law has detailed stipulations on how to protect information in key information infrastructure. According to the law, the operators of such infrastructures are obliged to store data locally and personal information collected and produced by their services in China. If they need to provide the data and information for overseas use due to business needs, a security evaluation must be carried out.

The law also allows police and other law enforcement agencies to take necessary measures, including the freezing of assets, against overseas individuals or organizations that “attack, intrude, interfere with or sabotage the nation’s key information infrastructure.”

“It complies with international conventions for nations to protect their key information infrastructure,” said Zuo Xiaodong, Vice President of the China Information Security Research Institute, a government think tank.

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