2009-02-01
Abstract
Rumblings of shady deals, bribery and underhand tactics in Chinese AV market.
Copyright © 2009 Virus Bulletin
Rumblings of shady deals, bribery and underhand tactics were to be heard last month as the head of the Internet monitoring department of Beijing’s Municipal Public Security Bureau was reported to have been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from an anti-malware vendor to assist with engineering the downfall of a competitor.
According to Chinese newspaper Ming Pao, Yu Bing is accused of accepting over RMB 40 million (approximately $5.8 million) from anti-malware firm Rising to frame an executive at rival company Micropoint Technology. A senior member of staff at Rising is also reported to have been arrested.
Yu, who heads up the team of surveillance officers monitoring email and web usage in the country as part of China’s Golden Shield (aka Great Firewall) surveillance system, is accused of manufacturing evidence against Micropoint Vice President Tian Yakui to suggest that he spread malware and broke into a computer system to steal confidential information. As a result of the evidence Tian was reportedly convicted of the crimes and was imprisoned for 11 months – putting a halt on Micropoint’s plans to launch its own anti-virus software.
According to reports, Micropoint is planning to sue Rising for an estimated RMB 30 million (approximately $4.3 million) in losses. Rising strenuously denies the allegations.
