Recently, the Ministry of State Security issued a warning notice on the collection of data and personal information of mainland users by overseas organizations.
The notice pointed out that some foreign organizations are secretly collecting the data and personal information of mainland users in the form of software development kits (SDKs), posing a potential threat to national security and personal privacy.
SDK is a commonly used software development tool to help developers build applications quickly. However, there are some bad actors who take advantage of the convenience of SDKs to carry out data harvesting and personal information theft activities by planting malicious code in applications.
According to the investigation by the Ministry of State Security, the data collected by the personnel of these foreign organizations through the SDK covers a wide range, including but not limited to users' personal data, communication records, location information, health data, etc.
Once these data and personal information fall into the hands of criminals, it will bring great risks to users' personal privacy and national security.
In order to prevent such security risks, the Ministry of State Security makes the following recommendations:
Raise user security awareness:
Users should strengthen their security awareness of applications, choose applications with good reputation and trustworthiness, and avoid downloading and using applications from unknown sources.
Update Software Version:
Keep your phone's operating system and app versions up to date to get the latest security patches and protections to reduce potential security risks.
Permission Management:
When installing an application, users should review and control the application's permission requirements to avoid authorizing access to sensitive information.
Secure Software Protection:
Install trusted security software, conduct regular virus scans and security tests to detect and remove malware.
Strengthen legal supervision:
The Ministry of State Security will strengthen cooperation with relevant departments to strengthen monitoring and crackdown on overseas organizations collecting mainland user data and personal information, so as to protect national security and personal privacy.
In the face of the threat of foreign organizations collecting mainland users' data and personal information, the Ministry of State Security will continue to strengthen its technical research and monitoring capabilities, and strive to protect national security and citizens' personal privacy. At the same time, users should also improve their security awareness, do a good job in the protection of personal information, and jointly build a safe network environment.