Security News > 2009 > December > U.S.-China Internet forum highlights need to step up online security

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/11/content_12631544.htm By Lin Zhi www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-11 SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The third annual U.S.-China Internet Industry Forum concluded here Thursday with delegates calling for more efforts to step up online security. An important part of network security was to ensure the security of online information, said Cai Mingzhao, former deputy director of China's State Council Information Office and an adviser to the Internet Society of China, which co-hosted the one-and-a-half-day forum with Microsoft Corporation. Pornography, fraud, spam, online attacks and computer viruses were serious threats to information security and were impairing the public's confidence in the Internet, he said in a keynote speech on Thursday. "Under such circumstances, it is not enough to emphasize the free flow of information alone. Information security should be put in a prominent position," Cai told an audience of more than 100 government officials, business leaders, academics and other representatives from both countries. "If network information security is not guaranteed, the information flow will become irregular. If illegal and harmful information are allowed to flow rampantly without checks, it will do great harm to the real society," he said. Cai said the first priority of ensuring online security should be protecting adolescents, as teenagers had become the largest online group and whose growth was increasingly influenced by the Internet. Each country has its own unique circumstances, differing from each other in Internet penetration, economic and social development, cultural traditions and laws, Cai said, adding that ensuring online security should fully respect the cultural diversity and concerns of all countries. "Therefore, Internet security around the world is unable to be measured by a unified standard. It is impossible to regulate security with a single law or manage it in a single pattern," Cai said. In his speech, Robert Hormats, under secretary from the U.S. Department of State, believed the U.S. and China should strengthen cooperation to jointly address network security risks. The U.S.-China Internet Industry Forum was launched in 2007 and has been held previously in Seattle of the United States and Shanghai of China. ________________________________________ Did a friend send you this? From now on, be the first to find out! Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org

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