China is the biggest victim of ＂spyware＂, and the United States has the most attacks.

We should be alert to the threat of "spyware" to national defense information security. [Illustration of Fang Han in the People’s Liberation Army newspaper]

　　Looking through the "China Internet Annual Information Security Report" published by the IT industry, we can see that last year, the number of computer viruses infected by software in the world increased explosively. Kingsoft Internet Security alone intercepted as many as 240,156 new virus samples, among which the number of Trojan viruses accounted for 73% of the total number of new viruses, reaching 175,313.

　　Spyware is the most rampant computer virus with a large number of names, which not only erodes the information security in various fields such as politics, economy and culture, but also brings unprecedented challenges to the national defense information security.

　　China is one of the biggest victims of "spyware" attacks.

　　With the development of information technology, computers are becoming more and more popular in social life. On the one hand, computers bring convenience to our lives, on the other hand, they also bring hidden dangers to information security. Turn on the computer every day, and maybe at the same time, you open a pair of eyes that peek at your own information.

　　According to statistics, among the countries attacked by "spyware", China is one of the biggest victims. In the second half of last year, about 64,000 computers were affected by malicious programs every day, of which 26% were in China, which is higher than any other country.

　　According to some data, in recent years, almost all the most lethal viruses spread in the world have been raging in China.

　　The United States frequently attacks mainland websites.

　　In 2005, China National Computer Network Emergency Technology Processing Coordination Center conducted sampling monitoring on network attacks, and found that 220,000 hosts from abroad had launched attacks on mainland China.

　　Among them,The countries and regions that frequently attack websites on the mainland are the United States (40%), Japan (11%), Taiwan Province, China (10%) and South Korea (8%).The monitoring also found that there are about 27,000 Trojan attacks on the mainland outside China, mainly located in the United States, South Korea and Taiwan Province, China; There are about 16,000 IP’s abroad that control zombie hosts in mainland China, mainly located in the United States, South Korea and Taiwan Province, China. In terms of website page tampering, the total number of tampered websites in mainland China reached 24,477, of which 3,831 were tampered with by government websites, accounting for 16% of the tampered websites in the whole mainland.

　　Military information construction should guard against "spyware"

　　With the advancement of military construction transformation and the development of information technology, the number of computers used for national defense needs is increasing year by year, which puts forward higher requirements for national defense information security protection. According to the survey, many people think that if computers used for military and national defense construction are physically isolated from the Internet, they can sit back and relax.

　　In fact, all kinds of free software tools we often use, as well as newly downloaded versions of upgrade software or installation software, are probably a carrier to hide "spyware".

　　Some computer users in the army and local departments with the function of national defense construction often don’t realize this problem. They only pay attention to external security and computer shielding, but ignore the infection of viruses through software, which makes it possible for "spyware" to invade.

　　Symptoms of being attacked by "spyware"

　　Browsers are inexplicably modified, many toolbars are added, webpages are turned into irrelevant strange pages, files are modified or lost for no reason, and computers are suddenly shut down automatically … A senior IT person said, "If this happens, it is likely that you have encountered spyware".

　　Spyware is a computer virus that does great harm to national defense information security. Like spies sneaking into the target, "spyware" often sneaks into the target in a hidden way.

　　Software bundling is the most common and hidden way. It is usually put together with a utility software. When users install this utility software, "spyware" will automatically install it quietly. Although some vague statements are usually given in the software installation agreement, I’m afraid not many people will patiently read the lengthy agreement before confirming it. There are even some softwares that are actually "spyware" in the name of anti-spyware.

　　As it turns out, after browsing some malicious websites or clicking some links, you may also install "spyware" programs in your browser or system. "Spyware" often has dual software characteristics. On the surface, it has practical and attractive basic functions, such as mp3 playing, BT downloading, or a small game, but in fact it hides a hidden component, which records users’ online behavior and habits and returns relevant information to software publishers.

　　The survey shows that in 2006, 81% of personal computers in China were infected with "spyware", and some computers were infected with as many as 25 kinds of "spyware". Another survey of 2,066 enterprises showed that 80% of enterprises in China reported the problem of "spyware". The harm of "spyware" has been more serious than virus, and it has become the number one "killer" endangering the security of national defense information.

　　Information security needs to prevent blocking at the same time

　　The development of information technology is like a double-edged sword, which brings new challenges to national defense security. Nowadays, network technology has become a new means of military operations. Using "spyware" to spy on each other’s national defense secrets and destroy each other’s network will cause huge losses to each other and even lead to total collapse.

　　The increasingly prominent problem of national defense information security has aroused universal concern in the world. To solve the problem of national defense information security, we must strengthen the national defense concept of the whole people and take the road of independent innovation and development.

　　-Enhance awareness of network security. First, strengthen security education, so that national defense front workers can further understand the current situation of international network security, realize the seriousness of the struggle against stealing secrets, and enhance their awareness of self-prevention; Second, computers used in the field of national defense should use specially provided software, and do not use pirated software or download various software on the Internet at will to cut off the source of virus infection; Third, the state should strengthen legislation on information security, intensify efforts to crack down on rogue software, "spyware" and other malicious software, and purify cyberspace.

　　-Strengthening the construction of network information talents. We should learn from some practices of foreign troops, absorb network experts, build a network information security team, and improve China’s network security prevention ability.

　　-Accelerate the pace of software development. At present, the United States, India and other countries are recognized as big countries in software development and sales, but China is still relatively backward in this respect. The state should strengthen the development of software with independent intellectual property rights. In particular, it is necessary to develop software that has a significant impact on our country’s information security and meet the needs of important fields such as national defense and military.

　　-Strengthening research on anti-virus technology. At present, in the field of network security, the main technical support means are firewall, intrusion detection, data encryption and anti-virus, among which anti-virus technology is the most widely used. The state should strengthen the research on anti-virus technology and continuously improve the active defense ability of national defense information security.

Editor: Li Yongchao