China’s fight against rising cybercrimes appreciated globally

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Along with China’s flourishing internet development, ironically and unfortunately, is the rapid growth of cybercrime, which Chinese authorities are busy fighting, and the efforts and experience have been appreciated globally.

Addressing a cybercrime forum during the Internet Security Conference 2018 on Monday, Yu Haisong, a criminal justice official with the research department of the Supreme People’s Court, pointed out that China, though boasting a safer society with less traditional crime, is encountering a rising number of sophisticated cybercrimes.

Yu also shared a joke about the difference between cybercrime in China and Germany. During a German delegation visit in Beijing, Yu said that their German counterparts introduced popular cybercrime methods in their country, but the Chinese officials felt the German methods would not work in China, since they were already outdated.

“Though inappropriate, China’s cybercrime is 5-10 years more advanced than some developing countries,” he joked, adding that China’s cybercrime suspects are aged 23 on average, which is an alarming fact.

In southern China’s Guangdong province, where the development of the internet is faster, there are more than twice as many cybercrimes than traditional crimes, according to Guo Hongwei, a cyber-engineer with Guangdong provincial public security department.

Through years of complicated fight against cybercrimes, China has gained much experience which is modelled internationally.

Zhao Xianwei, an official with the detection technology research center with the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, revealed that their Russian counterparts have recently requested to learn more about China’s lessons and experience in combating cybercrimes.

The Ministry of Public Security is working to promote legislature on cybercrime prevention, which is already the focus of the ministry’s work in 2018, Li Jingjing, a legal work official with the ministry’s cyber security defense bureau, revealed at the forum.

Li pointed out that China’s cyber security law currently puts more emphasis on the protection of internet operations, which is in adequate for dealing with cybercrime prevention and punishment.

The law requires real-name registration for internet services, but has yet to punish those using fake or stolen IDs to avoid supervision. Similarly, the law has yet to regulate internet companies to take preemptive measures to prevent or help with cybercrime investigations. There are also no comprehensive preventive measures to tackle cybercrime as a whole, as the chain is monitored separately, from IP address registration to usage and payment.

Guo suggested that more internet companies participate in the fight against cybercrime, as law enforcement authorities are unable to solve all problems in the virtual world, especially as many companies enjoy advantages in talent and resources.