China’s biggest cybersecurity company wants to shape 5G security standards

Qihoo 360 CEO Zhou Hongyi is proposing a government-led effort for new 5G security standards at the Two Sessions, China’s most important political event

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Like many of China’s tech bosses, the CEO of Qihoo 360 is taking part in China’s most important annual political event as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. (Picture: Simon Song/SCMP)

Published: 5:00am, 23 May 2020Updated: 5:00am, 23 May 2020

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

There are a lot of high hopes for 5G. The new wireless technology is supposed to be transformative, making our devices, cities and industries all more connected. But it also brings about new security risks, a challenge that China’s biggest cybersecurity company is looking to address.

Qihoo 360 co-founder and CEO Zhou Hongyi recently announced that he’s bringing some of his 5G security proposals to the Two Sessions, China’s most important political event that started on Thursday. One of these proposals is to form a national government-led 5G security strategy that involves multiple stakeholders.

“5G construction and application bring major new security risks,” Zhou said in an interview published on Thursday by Chinese state media outlet The Paper.

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Zhou said 5G is the driver of the industrial internet -- linking industrial facilities with big data, cloud computing and other tech. The new wireless standard is also set to be applied in other IoT applications, driverless cars, telemedicine, smart cities and drones. And all of these things will face new security challenges.

Zhou also said 5G safety standards should be developed both at the domestic and international levels. Domestically, Zhou proposes a government-led effort that involves stakeholders like equipment suppliers, terminal manufacturers, network operators and network security enterprises.

He added that cybersecurity no longer only affects just virtual space, but extends into the real world with a serious impact on national, social and personal security.