Chinese organization reaches out to world to stop cyberattacks

A Chinese organization set up to combat cyberattacks is expected to send representatives overseas to boost international cooperation after contributing to efforts to protect the online community at home, a network security official said.

The China Cyber Threat Governance Alliance has made achievements in identifying and fighting online security threats since it was established in 2016, according to Yan Hanbing, the head of the alliance’s secretariat.

Now the organization “plans to promote our security enterprises to the world to join international efforts” in fighting cyberattacks, said Yan, who is also director of the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team and Coordination Center’s operation department.

“We have to go abroad, as some cyberthreats come from overseas. To solve the online security problems, we should first try to gain acceptance in the world, even though winning trust is a little bit hard,” he said.

The alliance, which is part of the Internet Society of China, aims to monitor, report and prevent cyberthreats, such as Trojan horse and zombie viruses, across the country.

It now has more than 130 members, many of which are security companies and departments, up from 80 members at the beginning.

The number of malicious Trojan horses and zombie viruses identified by the alliance using automated methods between 2016 and 2017 numbered more that 20 million. It also helped shut down about 150,000 websites relating to online and telecom fraud, Yan said.

“Cybersecurity cannot rely on one authority, because an online threat may appear in a department but its root or operation is found in another place,” he said, adding that the joint efforts will play a major role in the effort.