Guard secrets against spy Net

The leakage came only two weeks after the names, dates of birth and social security numbers of 28,000 US Marines and their relatives were published by a civilian website, accessible to all Internet users.

The series of leakages prove that even the country with the most sound and foolproof intelligence network can fall victim to spying or casual acts of commission if it doesn't take necessary and appropriate safeguard measures.

The development of the Internet in China has been rapid over the past decade; in fact, the country now has the highest number of Internet users in the world. But it is still far from being a cyber power, both in terms of software development and safeguarding information. A large number of Chinese netizens are yet to develop the necessary risk-alert awareness even though they make full use of the limitless cyberspace.

In an interview with Beijing Television in 2013, Zhang Zhaozhong, a Chinese military expert, had said that the US could steal some military secrets from China by making some Chinese netizens unconsciously play the role of spies via the Internet.

The success of a military strategy during a war depends, to a large extent, on how well it is kept a secret. So, China should spare no efforts in safeguarding its military intelligence, especially at a time when it is deeply engaged in protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In a move to meet the new secrecy challenges facing China and make its military more secure, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China has issued a document saying military secrets should be better protected. To achieve this, the authorities should take measures to plug all the possible loopholes in Internet management and brace themselves for an increasingly fierce Internet warfare, which in most cases is carried out surreptitiously.

Every Chinese netizen can help the country in this warfare by refraining from posting sensitive information on the Internet, consciously or unconsciously. While surfing the Internet, every Chinese netizen should guard against being used as a spying tool by some foreign intelligence agency or the other.

And since almost all magazines and periodicals have online editions, the authorities should formulate a set of strict publication and circulation rules and methods for military periodicals to prevent foreign spies from easily accessing them and stealing China's secrets.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily. wuyixue@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 05/09/2014 page9)