New Faces of Cybercrimes

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, April 11, 2002

New Faces of Cybercrimes

China in the recent years has witnessed an increasing number of cybercrimes, according to the supervision bureau for public information security with the Ministry of Public Security. The number of investigated cybercrimes was only over a hundred in 1998, which climbed to 400 in 1999 and soared to 2,700 in 2000, five times over the previous year. But last year saw the statistics registered at 4,500, 70 percent up compared with the previous year.

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China in the recent years has witnessed an increasing number of cybercrimes, according to the supervision bureau for public information security with the Ministry of Public Security. The number of investigated cybercrimes was only over a hundred in 1998, which climbed to 400 in 1999, and 2,700 in 2000, five times over the previous year. But last year saw the statistics registered at 4,500, 70 percent up compared with the previous year.

Last year's cybercimes displayed five trends, according to an Internet information security official.

The first is to use computer to make, copy and spread pornographic literature. Some criminals sell pornographic CDs on the net, some illegally provide links of blue websites and others stage blue pages by themselves. More than 2000 such cases were investigated last year, almost taking up 50 percent of all computer concerned cases.

The second is economic crime via the Internet. Since Shenzhen police uncovered a bank account snatch via computer in 1986, such cases have developed from online theft into blackmail, illegal pyramid sale activity and so on which are more difficult to detect.

The third is a sharp increase of cases harming information and network security. Computer virus was rampant in China last year, especially those vicious ones like "red code II" and "Nimda". Network of some governments and institutions were blocked or even broken down, accompanied by frequent hacker attacks. Over 600 such cases were uncovered by police last year, a rise of 58 percent over the previous one.

The fourth is infringement upon citizens' personal rights and democratic right, such as personal attack and libel through the Internet. Last year saw 186 such cases investigated, of which 11 were criminal matters and 175 broke the law, a rise of more than three times over previous year.

The fifth is more and bigger cases harming national security. Some Falun Gong practitioners spread their theory on the net and organize illegal activities. Some national splittist stired up national sentiments and wove separatist schemes. Still some people, influenced by foreign anti-China forces, spread attacking on party leaders and governments.

By PD Online Staff Member Li Heng

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