Nationwide campaign to boost cybersecurity awareness

A nationwide campaign aiming to help people enhance cybersecurity awareness and learn to prevent online attacks will start on Monday, China's top internet watchdog said.

Themed "Cybersecurity for the People and by the People", the 2022 Cybersecurity Week, which will run through Sept 11, is jointly organized by 10 government departments, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security.

This year's opening ceremony and main summit, along with eight subforums, will be held in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, Gao Lin, deputy head of the administration's cybersecurity and coordination bureau, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

He said that many cybersecurity specialists and representatives engaged in major sectors, including railways, energy, telecommunications, finance and water conservancy, will attend the summit and discuss major security issues.

"Cybersecurity academics and internet enterprises' executives responsible for cybersecurity will also be invited to give classes via video link to tell more netizens how to protect themselves online and offer technical tips," he said.

Considering that automotive data security has become a hot topic among the public, Gao added that automobile enterprises will launch exhibitions for the first time during the campaign to introduce their latest cybersecurity protection products and services.

Hefei, which is home to more than 150 cybersecurity companies, has attached importance to promoting the industrial development and talent cultivation in recent years, according to Luo Yunfeng, the city's mayor.

Around 50,000 people work in the cybersecurity industry in Hefei, Luo said, adding that "the number is rising, which will be a core support for the growth of the industry".

He highlighted the significance of technological innovation, noting that visitors to the event in Hefei will learn about achievements in quantum security and artificial intelligence.

It will be the ninth such event held nationwide, amid the rapid growth of the internet and great importance paid to cybersecurity in the past few years.

The weeklong activity, launched in 2014, is an annual event promoting national awareness of cybersecurity and helping people protect themselves by understanding more about online security risks.

On Wednesday, the China Internet Network Information Center published a report that said China had more than 1.05 billion netizens by the end of June, 19.19 million more than in December. The report showed that the number of short-video platform users had reached 962 million.

It said that a rising number of people use the internet to read news, livestream and access medical services, adding that about 99.6 percent of netizens surf the internet on their mobile phone.

As of June, the average time spent online per capita was 29.5 hours per week, up by one hour from December last year, it said.