According to reports from ethical hacking specialists, Chinese authorities managed to resolve more than 45,000 cybercrime cases, as well as arresting more than 60,000 suspects related to these crimes during the first 10 months of this year, all as part of a campaign to eradicate Internet crimes in China.
More than 50% of crimes investigated by China’s
cyber police are related to identity fraud, device hacking and pornography
distribution and possession; in total, the investigation of these cases led to
the arrest of more than 37,000 people, said Wang Yingwei, director of
cybersecurity in China.
The campaign was launched in January 2019 and
its main goal was to take strict measures against any variant of cybercrime,
including hacking, theft of personal information, as well as the operation of
illegal betting sites.
“In the latest months we have come across
multiple new variants of online crimes, mainly activities on dark web,”
Wang says. For ethical hacking experts, the features of this Internet area,
such as anonymity, greatly complicate police activities, giving criminals more
options to continue operating.
So far, at least 15 criminal cases related to
the use of dark web have been reported, with the arrest of 25 suspects. The Chinese
government also increased activities against online lending, fining companies
that conduct these practices.
One of the most recent cases occurred in
Heilongjiang province, where an individual reported that, after applying for a
loan in a mobile app, he received an invitation to repay the loan with another
loan through another app. Less than half a year later, the individual’s
original debt (1,500 yen) grew to 350 thousand yen. The user and his/her family
remained under constant harassment by the companies operating these apps, until
this conduct was reported to the authorities.
According to the ethical hacking specialists of
the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS), China is the country with
the most Internet users around the world. According to the latest reports, more
than 829 million cybernauts are based in China, so it is obvious that hackers
try to take advantage of the large number of potential victims.
