Experts warn of growing cyber threats on privacy

BEIJING - Cyber-security experts expressed concern about a rise in threats to privacy as the world grows increasingly internet-reliant.

In the next five to 10 years, people will experience a new era where household appliances and electronic devices are connected through a network, said Zhou Hongyi, chairman of Internet giant Qihoo360, was quoted as saying by China Youth Daily.

"At that time, all devices you can see, touch and imagine, such as refrigerators at home or wearable devices, will be connected through the Internet," Zhou said at China Internet Security Conference which opened Wednesday.

The trend will also include new cyber-security threats which naturally accompany increasingly digital lifestyles, experts warned.

Official figures show that China had a total of 632 million Internet users by June 2014, with an economic loss of nearly 150 billion yuan (24.39 billion US dollars) as a result of cyber attacks, privacy disclosure or false online information in 2013.

According to the 360 cyber security center under Qihoo360, an average of 100 million Trojan viruses are blocked each day.

"The greatest challenge in the era of the Internet of Things will be the threats on people's privacy," Zhou said. "Enormous amounts of data stored on the cloud will make every single person transparent in terms of what they are doing or thinking."

Hackers can unlock or even manipulate the operation of networked intelligent cars through long-distance computing control, experts said, citing a future example of cyber threats.

More active measures are needed to protect privacy and enhance cyber security, said chairman of the Internet Society of China Wu Hequan, adding the ability of law enforcement should be strengthened to respond to cybercrime.

"All personal data collected by companies should be processed by clients and the security of information storage and transmission should be safeguarded," Zhou said.