New technologies needed to counter emerging crimes, Tencent boss says

New technologies need to be deployed to fight new types of cybercrime, Tencent founder and chairman Pony Ma Huateng told an industry event on Sunday.

Ma said domestic criminal gangs have leveraged advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks to crack the technology of network login verification codes, and AI technology has accelerated criminals’ ability to hack into enterprise databases, according to a statement the company sent to the Global Times on Sunday.

In 2017, Tencent helped law enforcement officials to smash the biggest platform for cracking the verification code of AI technology in China, Ma noted.

To combat emerging cybercrimes, new technologies need to be adopted and new alliances should be formed to solve new problems, Ma said. He added that a new environment must be established to rein in new risks.

Last year in China, 160 online fraud cases were uncovered, more than 3,800 suspects were captured and 3.2 billion yuan ($495 million) was involved, with more than 10 billion items of personal information hacked, the statement from Tencent said.

In the third quarter of 2017, the numbers of phishing scams and calls and the amount of money involved in online fraud all dropped.

In 2018, big data security technology is expected to continue its rapid growth. Holographic visual big data technology will be integrated into Tencent’s growing ecosystem of security and provide regulatory models that can be repurposed, the statement said.

Ma added that China will also offer a “China solution” for cyber security.