Text/Lu Shiming
Edit/Gale
On April 21, 360 (hereinafter referred to as 360) released its 2021 annual financial report, achieving operating income of about 10.886 billion yuan during the reporting period, and achieving a net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of about 902 million yuan; gross profit margin of 67.26%, continuing to maintain a high-speed growth momentum under the premise of maintaining a high gross profit margin level.
It is worth noting that during the reporting period, 360 achieved "safety and other" revenue of 1.381 billion yuan, an increase of 70.91% year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2022, the completion of 547 million yuan of urban safety orders was completed, and the completion of safety-related operating income has reached 39.6% in 2021. This means that 360 has made a landmark breakthrough in the transition to digital security.
In the past two years, with the wave of domestic digital transformation coming, the "double-edged sword" of digital technology has accelerated the development of the digital age, but it has also brought new security problems. In this context, with the continuous increase of security supervision, the domestic network security track has sprung up and become an important part of the digital economy.
As a representative enterprise of the domestic network security track, 360 has made remarkable achievements in the field of network security technology through 17 years of development and continuous research and development investment that far exceeds that of players on the same track.
With sufficient hard-core scientific research strength and project execution, 360 has not only won the recognition of relevant departments and wide praise from the market, but also improved the mainland's ability to cope with the security challenges of the digital age to a certain extent, helped the country solve the "card neck" problem of "visible" network attacks, and become an indispensable scientific and technological force in the national strategy.
Continue to invest in research and development, and build a solid foundation for development
For a country, science and technology are always the primary productive forces and the key to enhancing economic competitiveness. For an enterprise, the development of core technology also directly determines the future fate of a company.
By continuously paying attention to scientific and technological research and development and continuously increasing investment in research and development, enterprises and countries can achieve long-term and good development. For 360, which has outstanding technology and quite a "sense of home and country", this kind of truth cannot be clearer.
Today, in the historical process of "Internet of Everything", in the face of an increasingly complex network security environment and the challenges that come with it, 360, which has been deeply engaged in the field of network security for 17 years, has continuously increased its investment in research and development, which directly demonstrates the scientific research spirit of "network security leading enterprise".
According to this annual report, 360 continued to increase technology research and development, investing 3.129 billion yuan in research and development expenses during the reporting period, accounting for 28.74% of revenue, an increase of 8.97% year-on-year.
If we look back at the history, we can find that the R&D investment since the restructuring and listing of 360 has been more than 2.5 billion yuan in the past years, and the scale far exceeds the level of its peers. If you calculate from scratch, in the past 17 years, 360 has invested more than 23 billion yuan in scientific and technological innovation in the field of security.
Science and technology are people-oriented, innovation is based on talents as the core. As a high-tech enterprise, 360 attaches great importance to the recruitment and training of scientific and technological talents, and gathers the largest team of security experts in the Eastern Hemisphere.
According to the report, the number of 360 security experts has reached 4,081, accounting for more than 55% of the company's employees. From 2017 to 2021, 360 ranked first in the world in terms of the number of entrants and comprehensive rankings on the world's most eye-catching Microsoft MSRC security elite list.
There is no doubt that it is these valuable talents with innovative spirit and innovative wisdom that have promoted the development of 360 network security technology, which in turn has enhanced the mainland's ability to cope with the security challenges of the digital age.
It is understood that as early as November 2010, 360 launched the QVM artificial disinfection engine for the first time in the world, based on the QVM artificial disinfection engine, and applied for 67 patents in total. When the time comes to the current 2022, with the blessing of high research and development investment, 360 patents have reached more than 10,000 pieces. It is not only listed in the top ten of the list of invention patents of private enterprises, but also the company with the largest number of patents among security companies.
The fields covered by more than 10,000 patents are also very extensive, from traditional virus killing and active defense, to preventing various network frauds, preventing ransomware viruses, to ensuring the safety of intelligent connected cars and defending against APT attacks. Within these focus areas, 360 have hundreds of patent layouts.
Technological innovation is a difficult problem, for a company based on technology, the results of research and development work is more important than the process. The good news is that 360's scientific research strength has been recognized by the industry.
In the past few years, 360 has actively participated in the formulation of international and domestic standards, especially in the forward-looking participation in the security of the Internet of Vehicles and the security of the industrial Internet, which is also the first international standard for automobile safety led by the mainland, which is released globally in the six languages of the United Nations.
Whether it is the cumulative R&D investment of 23 billion yuan, or the security experts who account for more than half of the total, or more than 10,000 patent applications, behind these seemingly "simple" data, carry every drop of blood and sweat in the scientific research cause in 3607 years. It is also these seemingly simple data that provide strong support for the security development of the digital economy and contribute indispensable strength to national network security.
One view is that continuous investment in research and development has laid a solid foundation for 360 on the road of "network security".
The results are remarkable, and the confidence in network security is strengthened
In recent years, the epidemic has been volatile, the international situation has become more and more complex, and the mainland is in a critical period of digital transformation, and the issue of network security has become prominent.
Cyber security incidents will not only pose a threat to the personal privacy of netizens, affecting the work and lives of more than one billion people, but also hinder the mainland's rapid pace into the digital age, and may also leak important geographic information and military secrets of the mainland.
In this context, the network security industry has become the focus of market attention and has become the next golden track for technology companies.
On July 12, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the Three-Year Action Plan for the High-quality Development of the Cybersecurity Industry (2021-2023) (Draft for Comment). The plan points out that to promote the release of network security demand, by 2023, the scale of the mainland's network security industry will exceed 250 billion yuan, with an annual compound growth rate of more than 15%.
Opportunities are always left to those who are prepared, as early as February 2018, when 360 successfully returned to A shares through restructuring, it fully implemented the "great security" strategy and entered the government and enterprise security market.
With the original technical advantages, under the high-intensity investment in research and development, 360 not only released the "360 Security Brain", but also ensured national security and national security through the continuous construction of the "Distributed Security Brain".
【Safety Brain Product Matrix Source:360 Official】
After three years of precipitation, 360 has also achieved the remarkable results it deserves.
In the past year, 360 has enabled related products through the "Cloud Security Brain" and "Core Security Brain", which has significantly increased the overall customer coverage of the company's security business, completed the full coverage of key customers, and significantly increased the number of regional customers and the amount of new signatures.
According to the report, 360 has completed new contracts with nearly 2,000 customers, covering more than 90% of the central ministries and commissions, 80% of central enterprises, 95% of large financial institutions, and has carried out network security cooperation with millions of small and medium-sized enterprises. Relying on the continuous optimization and upgrading of the urban strategy, in 2021, while completing the development of 5 important cities, we will deeply contact a number of cities, and the momentum is strong.
Among them, a number of projects in 2021 have become industry benchmark cases. For example, it reached a strategic cooperation with Zhengzhou High-tech Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd. and successfully won the bid of 236 million yuan for the "National Network Security Industry Base Major Infrastructure Group Project". In cooperation with Shanghai Changfeng Digital Technology Co., Ltd., it successfully won the bid of 210 million yuan for the informatization and supporting facilities project of the urban safety brain project in Putuo District, Shanghai.
Entering 2022, it is ushering in a good start, february 360 participated in the "Zhoukou Digital Economy Security Industrial Park" public bidding and successfully won the bid, the total investment of the industrial park project is about 1.6 billion yuan, of which 360 plans to undertake the project investment of about 400 million yuan.
According to the report, 360 has completed the collection of 547 million yuan of urban safety orders in the first quarter of 2022, and the completion of safety-related operating income has reached 39.6% in 2021.
At the same time, 360's scientific and technological strength and project execution have been recognized by relevant departments and widely praised by the market.
During the reporting period, 360 became one of the first batch of network security enterprises to obtain the national information security service qualification and security operation level. The "Chongqing Safety Brain" built in Hechuan District, Chongqing was awarded the "2022 IDC Asia Pacific Smart City Award (China)" by IDC. As a best practice model for the construction of smart city security operation centers, the "Hechuan model" has been copied to Tianjin, Qingdao, Hebi, Suzhou, Zhengzhou and other places.
In just two or three years, 360 security-related business revenue has reached billions, and it is believed that with the increasing number of orders in hand and the continuous expansion of the business, the revenue volume will also show a spurt growth trend.
It is worth mentioning that in the face of the big cake of network security, 360 has said that it will not engage in competitive tricks, but will cooperate and share with all market participants with a better ecology, and lead industry players to promote the overall development of the mainland network security industry with the role of "bellwether".
Serve as a national strategic scientific and technological force to escort digital development
The world's scientific and technological powers compete with the national strategic scientific and technological strength. The influence and support of strategic scientific and technological forces are directly related to the enhancement of the mainland's comprehensive national strength and international competitiveness, and are the core of promoting economic and social development and ensuring national security.
At present, the realization of digital China has become a firm belief, and the issue of cybersecurity has become more and more important in the process of advancement.
Zhou Hongyi, founder and chairman of 360 Group, once mentioned that on the road to building a digital China, the biggest feature of network security challenges is "organized", "high level" and "invisible", which brings new difficulties and challenges to maintaining network security.
It is precisely because of this importance that the country attaches unprecedented importance to network security and data security. Under such a situation, safeguarding national cyberspace security and development interests has become the mission of the network security industry as a scientific and technological force.
Xu Lejiang, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the party group of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, once said: At present, the mainland is facing major changes unprecedented in a century, the digital age has brought new momentum to development, and security and development have become the "key words" in the new era. As a leading enterprise in the security industry, 360 is facing new opportunities and challenges in the wave of digitalization, shouldering the role of playing the role of national strategic scientific and technological force, and needs to continuously consolidate its capabilities, forge ahead, and better serve the national strategy and social development.
In fact, in the face of cyber security problems at the national level, 360 has made some achievements.
According to the report, in 2021, 360 companies found 15 overseas APT organizations that launched attacks against China, and a total of 50 overseas APT organizations have been found. Among them, on March 6, 2022, 360 released the report "Prelude to Cyber Warfare: The NSA (APT-C-40) Launched a Non-Discriminatory Attack on the World for More Than a Decade".
【Source: 360 Official】
It is reported that the NSA has carried out secret hacking activities for more than ten years against leading enterprises in various industries on the mainland, such as leading enterprises, governments, universities, medical institutions, scientific research institutions, and other important information infrastructure operation and maintenance units related to the national economy and people's livelihood, stealing massive amounts of important data, including population data, medical and health data, education and scientific research data, military and national defense data, etc., and implanting backdoors in many information systems on the mainland, making it difficult to assess the actual harm and potential threats caused.
On March 22, 360 once again released a technical report on the NSA incident, which fully exposed the Quantum (Quantum) Attack Platform, a representative cyber weapon used by the NSA against targets in China, and demonstrated 360's contribution to safeguarding national cyberspace security.
In fact, if you look at the development history of 360, you will find that the contribution of 360 to the mainland's network security cause over the years is not just an NSA. For a long time in the past, foreign hostile forces and unfriendly countries launched state-level cyber attacks on China, and 360 was the first to detect and warn.
The reason why it is 360 is based on the belief of "serving the country with science and technology", based on the responsibility of returning to A shares from the United States and participating in the national infrastructure as a 100% Chinese company.
It is believed that 360, which is on the road of prosperity in the digital age and serves as a national strategic scientific and technological force, will continue to deepen the field of network security and escort the digital development of the mainland.