Young cyberwarriors help to keep Web safe

More than 40 white-hat hackers attend the final of a national competition designed to find new talent to work in the network security sector in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on May 2.A total of 2,500 people from home and abroad entered the competition. Sun Can / Xinhua

White-hat hackers safeguard government and company websites from attempts to attack them

A team of young hackers from Shanghai will be going head-to-head with others from around the world at the weekend.

The group is taking part in the final round of SECCON, a major competition for hackers, for the first time. The members are all from the post-1990 generation.

"We're young and interested in information security. We hope to have fun in the final competition in Tokyo," said team leader Zhang Siyu, 25, who trains the hackers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

This is the first time that teams from outside Japan have been invited to take part in the final, a move intended to find more talent to join the fight against Internet threats and crimes.

Twenty-four teams, including contestants from the United States, will compete in a number of sections such as cryptanalysis - analyzing computer systems to detect hidden weaknesses - and programming.

The competition is run by the Japan Network Security Association, and more than 1,300 people entered last year. Fifty-five percent were students.

Jiang Kaida, a teacher at the Shanghai university's network and information center, said: "I'm glad to see more young people becoming interested in security issues. Some of them are even middle school students."

The young IT security enthusiasts taking part in the competition are often called "white-hat hackers" to distinguish them from malicious individuals or groups that identify and attack security loopholes. White-hat hackers advise businesses and government departments about Web security risks.

A report issued last month by Qihoo 360, the country's largest security software provider, said the number of ethical hackers has increased rapidly over the past three years.

Almost 70 percent were born in the 1990s, and 2 percent were born after 2000 - a reflection of the way younger people are becoming interested in the IT security industry, the report said.

Jiang welcomed the trend, but said the provision of suitable guidance and education for youngsters is a key element in the country's security development.

Yan Hanbing, deputy director of the operations department at the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team and Coordination Center, said it is important to widen youngsters' horizons.

"Exploring ways to uncover security loopholes as well as protecting enterprises' privacy should also be taken into consideration," Yan said. The center leads efforts to combat cybersecurity threats.