Chinese firms join cyber security forum in US

Worldwide, Qihoo 360 claims to have over 1 billion users, driving its market cap to nearly $7 billion. [Asianewsphotoby Da Wei]

SAN FRANCISCO - A number of top Chinese information security firms are in San Francisco to present their products and services to an American crowd.

The vendors, some of them here for the first time at the annual RSA Conference, arguably the largest cybersecurity forum in the world, have brought a visible influx of Chinese speakers to part of downtown San Francisco on the US west coast.

Xiangdong Qi, president of Qihoo 360 Technology, a company headquartered in Beijing and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was at his company's booth in an exhibition area on Tuesday to receive an award from Andreas Marx, chief executive officer of AV- Test GmbH.

The award by AV-Test, an independent institute in Germany, recognizes 360 AntiVirus as the best in 2014 on the Android platform.

Qi, a first-timer to RSA Conference, said he believes his company, with flagship software products 360 Total Security for personal computer and 360 Security for Android-based mobile devices, offering antivirus functions and other security and utility features, has huge market potentials in the United States, because they are free of charge for end users.

A Qihoo 360 spokeswoman said there have been 20 million PC downloads and 100 million mobile device downloads from the company 's website by users outside China.

Worldwide, Qihoo 360 claims to have over 1 billion users, driving its market cap to nearly $7 billion.

Across the aisle from Qihoo 360's booth at Mascone Center, a conference and exhibition complex, is the booth for Huawei, a major Chinese landline and mobile network equipment manufacturer and smartphone vendor.

Starting from April 20, the exhibition venue has turned into a small town attracting thousands of visitors on daily basis. It is scheduled to close on April 24.

Security has been the catch word in the cyberspace in recent years.

Jeh Johnson, US Secretary of Homeland Security, told the RSA Conference on Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security was formed in 2002, in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks and counterterrorism is the department's cornerstone mission. "But, the reality is that in 2015, cybersecurity has become a mission of equal importance."