Security of online financing a State concern

One of the biggest changes to the domestic financial industry during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) has been the boom in online financial services. With the smooth development of Internet-based technologies, e-payments and e-transfers have fundamentally changed the way people use money. For instance, it is increasingly common for people to purchase a product online using their cellphones and then await its express delivery.

In order to compete with the Internet companies that provide convenient digital services and products, banks have had to constantly expand their own online services. Besides e-payments and e-transfers, people can now order online travel checks, buy insurance online, and purchase stocks and bonds via the Internet.

But while they add convenience to daily life, these measures also bring new risks. It is not difficult to hide one's true identity in the virtual world and many evildoers find the growth in online financial services convenient too, for the wrong reasons. They use the Internet to commit frauds, hack banking information, or even steal money directly from private and public accounts. Because of this, security should be a primary concern for providers of online financial products and services. For the State, there is additional risk because all the key technologies such as the processor chips, operating systems, and databases are controlled by foreign countries.