[ISN] Beijing hosts cyber-security conference

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-08/04/c_13429064.htm

By Wang Guanqun 
English.news.cn   
2010-08-04

BEIJING -- Top cyber-security analysts are gathering in the Chinese 
capital for a summit to boost security in the sector, amid the 
increasing threat of computer hacking worldwide.

About 300 participants from countries including the United States, Japan 
and Australia are attending the two-day summit, which starts on 
Wednesday and is initiated by XFOCUS, a Chinese information security 
society.

Starting from a website in 1999 created by information security 
professionals, XFOCUS has organized eight Xcon conferences since 2002 
for professionals in the industry to exchange skills and meet friends.

The meeting has drawn wide media attention partly because China has 
grown quickly to become the country with the biggest Internet population 
in 2009 and consequently experienced frequent cases of cyber attacks, 
analysts said.

The conference gathers information security professionals to exchange 
skills and welcomes stakeholders to discuss technical issues, said Fang 
Xing, a veteran participant and a speaker at the meeting. Fang is also 
one of 16 core members of XFOCUS.

"We don't want to be confused with the so-called hackers," said Fang, 
CEO of the Nanjing-based information technology cooperation, Vulnhunt.

There are two camps within the hacker community, Fang said. One is 
called "the black hat" and its members attack systems, while members of 
the other "white hat" group defend systems from being attacked, said the 
37-year-old Fang.

"Although many people call us 'hackers', actually we are the 'white 
hats' who have conducted deep research on hackers' technologies to help 
enterprises and users defend themselves against hackers," Fang said.

Veteran US hackers, who recently concluded a meeting in Las Vegas known 
for attracting rogue software savants that have found ways to "crack" 
items including smart phones, Web browsers and power plants, are also 
attending the conference in Beijing, AFP reported.

"We want to create understanding between the two hacker cultures," said 
Colin Ames, who is part of a scouting team setting out for the 
conference.

"It's nonsense that all Chinese hackers are evil and hack for the 
government."

Ames told China Daily through e-mail that he wanted to learn more about 
the challenges China faces in computer security and share knowledge 
about the challenges the US faces.

"We believe that through understanding and friendship, we can avoid 
problems and bad assumptions we can learn from each other and improve 
the state of security of both nations," he said.

Analysts from IT giant Microsoft have also been invited to the 
conference, organizers said.

The upcoming conference is already one of the most influential 
gatherings in the Chinese information security circle and it aims to 
become "the most professional one in Asia", Fang said.

"It's not exactly between China and the US. It brings researchers from 
all around the world for the purpose of technical communication," said 
Sun Bing, an information security researcher who has spoken at Xcon 
three times.

The conference hall for the event will seat 270 people, said organizers, 
who closed the meeting to media because they wanted it to keep a low 
profile.

Fang said the most pleasant part of the conference each year is that it 
provides an opportunity for friends in the circle to gather.

"We can chat, we can drink, and we can know what's new. We can think 
together," Fang said.

"The computer security area is experiencing more and more hacker attacks 
around the world. So this conference is very necessary," said a Japanese 
attendee, who did not want to be named.

"I'm here to learn," he said.


--
Visit InfoSec News!
http://www.infosecnews.org/