China's cybersecurity sector is facing a host of challenges, as it must now focus on increasing the public's awareness on cybersecurity issues, while strengthening its research and development components.

These were among the recommendations made by top cybersecurity experts during the recent 13th China Cyberspace Security Annual Conference, in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China Daily reported.

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Hosted by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Coordination Center of China, the conference was attended by around 900 participants coming from various Chinese institutes, as well as government and domestic and foreign enterprises,

The three-day cybersecurity event in China covered a range of cyberspace topics, including security threat intelligence, cybersecurity talent development, security vulnerabilities and mobile internet and data security.

According to Huang Chengqing, director of the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Coordination Center of China, the security capabilities of the nation's cloud platform, as well as big data industries will be confronting major challenges this year.

Huang anticipates that the computer equipment being utilized in the development of the Internet of Things will be facing greater cybersecurity threats, adding that network fraud and racketeering in China might also become more rampant this year.

Based on data from the 2015 China Internet Network Security Report, the center received 126,916 domestic and international reports on network security incidents last year, which is an increase of 126 percent from the same period in 2014.

The report noted that the three main targets of cyber-attacks in China have so far been government departments, financial agencies and basic telecommunication enterprises.

The most common network security concerns are webpage counterfeiting and security vulnerabilities, the report added.

"But China's industrial internet faces harsher security challenges, and the advanced persistent threat to China's important information system became more severe last year," pointed out Wu Jianping, an academician who specializes in computer science at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

But despite the issues confronting China's cybersecurity sector, the security condition of China's public internet is generally stable, and the security of the main telecommunication operators has improved. 

Tagschina, China Cybersecurity, cybersecurity issues, china cybersecurity issues, China Cybersecurity Threats