900 arrested in cybersecurity crackdown

Nationwide campaign aims to keep order and 'protect public's interests'

Chinese police have solved more than 400 cases involving hackers and detained more than 900 suspects in a nationwide campaign, the Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday.

The ministry has high-lighted crackdowns against online crimes and developed a series of efforts to fight such activity as the Internet develops rapidly and the public is increasingly hurt by such crimes, according to a ministry statement.

In the six-month campaign, Chinese police mainly fought those who invaded websites, made and spread viruses to steal from online banks and used the Internet to defraud others, the statement said.

Public security bureaus also increased efforts to handle electronic evidence in the campaign, setting up more than 300 laboratories in the country for the study and processing of evidence, it said.

"We'll continue putting high pressure on online crimes to keep cyberspace in order and protect the public's interests," said a ministry insider who requested anonymity, adding that some of the cases in the campaign were solved through international cooperation.

In April, for example, a company in Zibo, Shandong province, reported to local police that it did not receive payment for goods from a buyer in Vietnam.

The police found that the Shandong company had been the victim of online fraud and that its money was in another bank account.

The hackers had stolen information from the two companies' e-mail boxes and, posing as the Chinese corporation and using a fake e-mail address, contacted the company in Vietnam and lured it into paying, the ministry statement said.

As a result of international cooperation, Zibo police cracked down on the gang and nabbed five suspects, including three foreigners, it said.

At the beginning of the year, police in Yanbian, Jilin province, discovered a gang that consisted of Chinese and South Koreans who stole from online bank accounts. Police investigated after receiving evidence from police in South Korea, according to the ministry.

Yanbian police discovered that suspected members of the gang were in several cities in China, including Weihai, Shandong province, and Longyan, Fujian province, and that the online thefts targeted Korean financial institutions.

Altogether, 31 suspects who allegedly cheated others out of money in the Yanbian case have been detained, the ministry said. They used Trojan viruses and "phishing" websites, which lure their targets into providing confidential information that scammers can use for illicit purposes, it added.

Li Yuxiao, chief of the Internet Management and Law Research Center of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said the campaign shows that China has shouldered responsibility to fight online crime and has taken action against such activity.

"China, as a responsible country, has strong determination to fight those destroying cyberspace, no matter where they are from," he said. "We've cracked down on online crime with legislation and supervision."

Zhang Yan contributed to this story.