Firming Up the Firewall

　　Liu Guixian took the plunge and opened a Yu’ebao online savings account two months ago. The teacher at SuzhouGaoxinqu Tong’an Middle School has since depositedsome of her spare cash into the account， eyeing a betterinterest rate than that offered by financial institutions.

　　“I can get much higher yields [through Yu’ebao] thanbank deposits，” she said， adding that many other teachersin her school are using the online financial product asa savings account. Yu’ebao was launched in June 2013 byAlibaba， China’s e-commerce giant.

　　Yu’ebao has become an attractive alternative to banksbecause it offers around 6 percent in annual returns onsavings. In contrast， banks offer a paltry 0.36 percent. As aresult， Yu’ebao has attracted around 500 billion yuan ($81billion) from over 81 million users in under a year.

　　Despite the high interest rate， Liu still prefers to savethe bulk of her money in banks rather than investingin online financial products. “I just want to use Yu’ebao asa supplement to my bank savings and do not want to putall my money there，” she told ChinAfrica. “After all， I don’tthink Yu’ebao is safe enough. The bank savings are muchsafer than the invisible Internet product as there are manyhackers on the Internet.”

　　Liu’s worries reflect those of many other Internet users.With the fast development of the Internet and the subsequentexplosion of functions and services now availableonline - from storing personal information and conductingdigital banking to harboring a repository for nationalsecrets， safety in cyber space is becoming a major concernto both users and developers.

　　Internet security upgrades

　　China gained access to the Internet on April 20， 1994. Inthe two decades since， Internet development has movedat a meteoric rate. Statistics from China’s Internet NetworkInformation Center show that by the end of 2013， Chinahad more than 600 million Internet users and more than1.2 billion cellphone users. In addition， more than 300 millionInternet users shopped online， with a total transactionvalue exceeding 10 trillion yuan ($1.67 trillion).

　　“China is now the country with the largest number of Internetusers， but definitely， it is not a cyber power， as Chinadoes not fare well in safeguarding its Internet security，” saidLiao Renbin， General Manager of China Telecom HunanBranch. “China’s Internet security lags far behind that ofdeveloped countries.”

　　After Edward Snowden unveiled the secret U.S. PRISMsurveillance program to the world， a global effort has beenmade to further strengthen and safeguard Internet security，including in China.

　　On February 28， China established the Central InternetSecurity and Informatization Leading Group， headedby Chinese President Xi Jinping， to lead and coordinateInternet security and informatization work among differentsectors and draft national strategies， development plansand major policies in this field.

　　“No Internet safety means no national security. Noinformatization means no modernization，” Xi said， notingthat cyber information flows across countries and steerstechnology， funding and talents.

　　In his Government Work Report delivered in early Marchthis year， Premier Li Keqiang also vowed to safeguardChina’s Internet security.

　　Fang Xingdong， Director of the Center for Internetand Society at Zhejiang University of Media and Communications，believes that beefing up its Internet securitymeasures is crucial for China.

　　“This is the first time that China has lifted Internetsecurity to the level of a national strategy. Against thebackdrop that the whole world is now in a cyber era andthat China has the largest number of Internet users， it isreally important for China to further improve its Internetsecurity strategy，” Fang said. “Internet security has gonefar beyond the safety of the Internet itself， it is related tonational security.”

　　Foreign dominance

　　Like many other countries， China relies heavily on theInternet. But China is only a rule follower， not a rule maker，according to Shen Yi， an expert on Internet security atFudan University.

　　The globe’s dominant Internet resources are mainlycontrolled by the United States and a few other developedcountries. Of the 13 root name servers， 10 are located inthe United States. As the world’s second largest economyand a country with the largest number of Internet users，China has no root name server；

　　“The Internet has now become a new competitionplatform for various countries， and no country can be offthe platform，” said Shen.

　　Lacking adequate Internet resources， China is also frequentlyattacked by hackers. Statistics from the NationalComputer Network Emergency Response Technical TeamCoordination Center of China show that in the first twomonths of 2013， more than 6，700 overseas Trojan Horseor botnet malware program controllers were in control ofmore than 1.9 million host computers in China. In addition，more than 5，320 overseas host computers controlled11，420 websites in China through hidden backdoors.

　　“This has severely threatened China’s Internet security，”said Qian Xiaoqian， Vice Minister of China’s State CouncilInformation Office， at the Sixth U.S.-China InternetIndustry Forum.

　　Developing domestic IT

　　“Targeting these problems， the newly established CentralInternet Security and Informatization Leading Group willdirect and clarify the way forward in realizing China’s Internetsecurity strategy，” Shen said.

　　In the eyes of Sun Pishu， Chairman of the Board ofDirectors at Inspur Group Co. Ltd.， a multinational informationtechnology company headquartered in Jinan， ShandongProvince， China’s Internet security is actually “naked，”and should be improved through equipment utilization，inspection and supervision.

　　According to Sun， nearly half of the informatizationhost equipment used in China’s finance， telecommunications，energy， government and transportation sectors areforeign brands. Finance and telecommunications sectorsare even worse， with the percentage reaching 99 percent.“China’s reviewing system is another aspect that shouldbe further improved，” Sun said. He illustrated this with anexample from the United States. For many years， the U.S.has had a strict review system on using foreign IT productsin the country， with the stated aim of safeguarding itsnational security. But China doesn’t have such a reviewsystem. In many procurement cases in China， foreignequipment and systems are even given priority. “By doingthis， China is actually putting its secrets under other countries’noses，” Sun said.

　　According to Sun， to fundamentally solve the problemof Internet security， the first thing China should do is todevelop its own independent and controllable informationtechnologies and gradually replace foreign equipmentwith domestic brands.

　　“China has fully realized the importance of safeguardingInternet security. But we still have a long way to gobefore we can really consolidate our security firewall onthe Internet，” Sun said.

　　He predicted that after the establishment of the leadinggroup， China will adjust its policies and laws related tothe Internet and reconsider its investment direction anddepartmental strategies.

　　“But for a long-term strategy， China should improve itscapacity in developing operating systems and manufacturinginfrastructures，” Shen added.