Smartphones easy game for hackers

By April, China had 808 million mobile Internet users, a year-on-year increase of 20 percent.

The number of people surfing the Internet with smartphones is now 787 million, according to the China Association of Communication Enterprises.

As a result of this growth, providing a safe platform for mobile users to download apps has become a priority, said Guo Xunping, vice-president of Bangcle, a Beijing company that provides security services for mobile devices.

He suggested every app should be protected against malware before it is issued.

Associations like NGOs should also make contributions to the cyberthreat crackdown, said Bai Xueren, director of a network detection center in Jiangsu province.

Bai's team established a provincial mobile Internet virus sample database that has collected more than 1,400 categories.

"We also cooperated with the provincial telecom bureau and police, building an alliance to fight against cellphone viruses," he said. Coordination with telecom operators, security institutes and government administrations is also vital, he said.