China To Ramp Up Cyber Defence Capabilities Following Increasing Attacks

China is implementing stronger cybersecurity measures as cyber attacks grow more rampant and deadly.

Lu Wei, minister of cyberspace, told a Beijing press conference last week that in the past month 10,000 websites had been hacked in China, 80 per cent of which were government sites. He said the majority of the attacks originated in the US.

Wei claimed that China is the “world’s largest victim” of cyber attacks in response to US allegations that Beijing launched a cyber attack on US-based companies.

“There are some who accuse China of hacking, and here I must stress that we do not permit hacking of others’ networks to attain information,” said Mr Lu, adding: “China is the world’s main victim of cyber hacking.”

China plans to vastly improve its cyber defense capabilities and is investing to strengthen its leadership in the cyber space.

According to state media broadcasters, Chinese Government will continue to invest to reinforce cyber security of software used inside the country.

"Information security must be considered an underlying project in military battle preparedness," the official People's Liberation Army Daily said.

"We will strongly advance the domestic and independent building of programs, and strengthen the foundations of our information security," it added.

China recently established the Central Cybersecurity and Informatization Leading Group (CCILG), a new strategic government body responsible to manage China’s cybersecurity headed by President Xi Jinping.

Xi Jinping emphasised internet security as a “major strategic issue”, and announced China’s intentions to become a “cyber power” nation earlier this year. He further stated that “without cybersecurity, there is no national security, and without informatization, there is no modernization”.

Earlier in October, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a “flash" warning  which described tools and techniques used by hackers against American businesses.

The FBI agency also said that it had recently obtained information regarding "a group of Chinese Government-affiliated cyber actors who routinely steal high-value information from U.S. commercial and government networks through cyber espionage."

The White House became the latest cyber attack victim after hackers infiltrated an unclassified network that left outages and loss of connectivity.

President Xi and US President Barack Obama plan to meet informally in China on Nov. 12, the day between the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit from Nov. 10-11 in Beijing to discuss improving cyber security, and enhancing the level of military exchanges.