Chinese websites less vulnerable to security threats

BEIJING - Chinese websites have become less vulnerable to security threats, as a majority of the sites have put standard security measures in place to guard against risks, said a report released Wednesday by a national computer monitoring center.

Just over 98 percent of Chinese business websites had implemented standard protective measures against security threats in 2011, up from 92.25 percent in 2010 and 78.61 percent in 2009, according to the report by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China, China's primary computer security monitoring network.

The number of government websites that were targeted by cyberattacks in 2011 decreased by 39.4 percent compared with 2010, the report said.

Despite improved security, China is facing increasing cyberattacks and threats from overseas, the report said.

A total of 47,000 overseas-based Internet Protocol addresses were involved in attacks against 8.9 million Chinese computers last year, compared to nearly 5 million targeted computers in 2010, according to the report.

Most of the IP addresses originated in Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea, the report said.

Shang Bing, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said China will face increasing challenges in coping with severe cyber-security threats.

"China has the largest online population in the world, but it has relatively weak control over core technology and key resources," he said.

The development of new technology, including technology related to cloud computing and wireless networking, will further complicate security concerns, he added.

Du Yuejin, an engineer with CNCERT, said China will deepen cooperation with other countries to boost online security.

The CNCERT has established cooperative relations with 40 countries and 79 organizations thus far.

As of the end of last year, China's online population totalled 513 million.