Pierluigi Paganini
September 07, 2015
The Chinese authorities have arrested nearly 15,000 people involved in criminal activities online as part of the operation against the cybercrime is dubbed “Cleaning the Internet.” The Chinese Government accused the suspect to have “jeopardized Internet security.”
According to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the operation Cleaning the Internet was launched in July, the authorities planned a six-month crusade against the online criminal activities.
The police investigated nearly 7,400 cases related to cybercrime, investigators persecuted hacking campaign, online frauds and the illegal sale of personal information.
The website of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) reported that more that 66,000 websites were analyzed during the campaign avoiding to provide further information on when the arrests took place.
The Chinese Ministry of Public Security said the operation Cleaning the Internet has took down major online criminal rings operating in the country.
“Police have investigated 7,400 cases of cyber crime, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its website. It did not make clear over what period the arrests were made, but referred to a case dating to last December. China launched a six-month program last month, code-named “Cleaning the Internet”.” states the Reuters agency.
“The sweep targeted websites providing “illegal and harmful information” besides advertisements for pornography, explosives and firearms and gambling. In total, the police said they investigated 66,000 websites.”
The Chinese Government considers the cyberspace a strategic domain, President Xi Jinping has led an increasingly harsh crackdown on China’s Internet fighting the cyber crime.
The Chinese Government runs one of the most sophisticated Internet censorship systems called The Great Firewall, it is the demonstration of the great importance attributed by Beijing to the online dominance.
The Chinese underground market one of the greatest cyber-criminal communities together the Russian and the Brazilian ones.
Chinese cybercrime is increasingly targeting mobile platforms thanks to a vast underground offer of services and tools, Trend Micro published last year an interesting report titled Mobile Cybercriminal Underground Market report, which analyzed the monetization processes adopted by Chinese cybercriminals from illegal activities against mobile platforms.
The report designs a vast and sophisticated network of cybercriminals that are assaulting mobile devices.
The action of the Chinese Government will continue as announced by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security:
“For the next step, the public security organs will continue to increase their investigation and crackdown on cyber crimes,”
(Security Affairs – Chinese underground, cybercrime)
