Firms should watch out for Internet threats

More data on the cloud and increased use of mobile devices may spell trouble, experts say

Chinese companies should be more cautious with web threats and cybercrime, as more of their data is being placed on the cloud and an increasing number of mobile devices are being used in the workplace, researchers said.

Web security problems have disrupted the world's business operations from time to time. Though China hasn't reported devastating hacking cases so far, it doesn't mean the nation is immune to cybercrime. [Photo/China Daily]

Web security problems have disrupted global business operations from time to time. On average, a new cyber threat emerges every second, and every five minutes there could be a hacking case, said Eva Chen, chief executive officer of Japan-based security company Trend Micro Inc.

"More than 90 percent of the world's companies have hidden malicious software in their computers," said Chen at a Beijing security forum in early August. The threats have already resulted in a series of information hacking cases among renowned companies, she pointed out.

In April last year, hackers attacked Sony's PlayStation Network services. The security breach may have compromised personal information, including credit card data, for its 70 million users. Sony estimated a $171 million loss from the attack.

The most recent case happened with South Korea's No 2 wireless service provider KT Corp. KT said in July that two computer programmers had hacked the personal information of about 8.7 million of its subscribers. The figure was more than half of KT's total service subscription membership of 16 million.

Though China hasn't reported such devastating hacking cases so far, it does not mean that the nation is immune to cybercrime.

Liu Zhengping, senior manager of the marketing department at Trend Micro, said Chinese companies also face severe security challenges, especially as the country catches up with global trends and introduces new technologies and devices.

China surpassed the United States last year to become the world's biggest smartphone market. More than 42 million smartphones were shipped to Chinese retailers in the second quarter, an increase of 199 percent year-on-year. The country accounted for 27 percent of the world's smartphone shipments during the period, according to a report released by research firm Canalys.

Mobile threats

Smartphones are now an integral part of people's daily lives in China. More white-collar workers are bringing their mobile devices to their workplaces and accessing internal networks.

The number of Chinese people accessing the Internet via mobile devices increased to a record high of 388 million at the end of June, according to a report by the China Internet Network Information Center.

Out of a total number of 538 million Chinese Web users in the first half of the year, about 31 percent access the Internet in their offices.

"I noticed that many people working in China's banking industry have started to use iPads to process tasks. For example, to make presentations to clients," Liu said.

However, with more personal devices connected to the companies' internal networks, security concerns arise.

"Hackers have targeted those hundreds of thousands of mobile applications. If personal devices play a role in the workplace, then enterprise data is at risk," said Chen.

Cloud data risks

In addition, more Chinese companies are adopting cloud-computing technology nowadays because of its efficiency in resource allocation.

"Data centers have become virtualized, and will eventually be on the cloud," Chen added. She said the move would create new challenges to companies, and security software companies should follow the situation closely.

"The tasks are likely to be more demanding and complicated. It's not enough to try to protect a castle by simply building a moat around it now," Chen said.

Few Chinese companies have the awareness to protect themselves at the moment.

"The market still needs education. However, in the near future, it will see explosive growth," said Xiang Ligang, a Beijing-based industry expert.

Trend Micro previously said it would invest 80 percent of its resources to research and develop cloud-security products. The company estimated that the annual growth rate of revenue from China could be 10 percent this year.

shenjingting@chinadaily.com.cn