China makes progress fighting domestic, international cyber crime

Chinese police have made notable progress in fighting cyber crimes at home and through international cooperation, according to the Ministry of Public Security on Friday.

Since 2012, the police have worked with foreign counterparts in more than 70 countries and regions to fight cyber crimes and have arrested more than 580 suspects, including Chinese and foreign nationals, said the ministry in a press release.

About 50 suspects of Chinese nationality had been captured and returned to China from countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, the press release said.

The ministry cited a high-profile case, in which police from China, the United States, India and Romania unearthed a hacking gang in March 2014, which had maliciously accessed more than 100,000 e-mail accounts. Seven suspects who allegedly exercised the attacks and another seven, who stole personal information, were arrested.

China would like to improve cooperation with other countries and contribute to the development of international protocols in this area, the ministry said.

Chinese police have also made substantial progress in a nationwide cyber crime operation since July with more than 20,000 suspects in custody.

The ministry publicized two high-profile cases in the press release. In August, police in east China's Zhejiang Province arrested 15 people who allegedly hacked online game websites and blackmailed about 1,600 players.

In another case, Xuzhou Police in East China's Jiangsu province arrested seven suspects who allegedly hijacked servers and invaded more than 2,000 websites of companies and public institutions.