China has ordered software producers to create security patches following reports that its controversial new Internet filtering system could allow remote monitoring and control of users’ computers, and the stealing of personal information, state media said yesterday.“The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology told us to make the software safer as soon a series of security vulnerabilities were found,” the official China Daily quoted Zhang Chenmin, manager of Jinhui Computer System Engineering, as saying.
Jinhui’s programmers were “working non-stop in collaboration with domestic anti-virus program experts” to develop the security patches, Zhang said.
Jinhui helped to develop the Green Dam Youth Escort software, which the government said was needed to filter out pornographic content but is apparently also designed to consolidate existing blocks on politically sensitive websites.
The government has ordered computer manufacturers to pre-install Green Dam on all new computers from July 1.
Officials have already installed the software on some 2.6mn computers in schools, and the company has also recorded 7.2mn downloads of the free software, the newspaper said. Zhang was quoted as saying hackers could attack internet users through Green Dam “just like any other software of this type.”
The newspaper quoted a computer scientist at the University of Michigan, as saying Green Dam will be “a disaster for computer security in China” unless the security problems are fixed.
(Gulf Times)
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Topic: China’s Internet filter ‘full of holes’ (Read 3275 times)
