Neusoft Yang Jiwen: Cybersecurity companies need to improve their comprehensive capabilities to develop

The 2017 Internet Security Conference with the theme of "Everything is changing, people are the measure of security" was held in Beijing recently. Yang Jiwen, vice president of Neusoft Group Co., Ltd. and general manager of the Network Security Division, was interviewed by reporters on the spot and expressed his personal views on the problems that need to be solved for the further development of the Internet security industry and how to improve the comprehensive capabilities of the Internet security industry.

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Reporter: What problems do you think China's cybersecurity industry is currently facing in order to become bigger and stronger?

Yang Jiwen: China's cybersecurity has been developed for more than 30 years. Compared with the international market, it actually has a longer history than some of the world's advanced cybersecurity vendors. However, from the current situation, China's cybersecurity companies have almost no place in the world, so the prospects and development path of China's cybersecurity are relatively difficult.

I think there are several things we need to do in China's cybersecurity industry:

1. Know your own capabilities and shortcomings - Although our industry has been developed for more than 30 years, there is no company that has done very well in terms of systematization and international market influence. This is an aspect that all Chinese security companies should focus on.

2. Accumulation of core network security technologies - We have not yet reached the level of capability that can produce a favorable competitive position in this regard. The development of network security now involves more and more dimensions, such as the Internet of Everything, data security, cloud security, data security, etc. The current security topic is no longer a separate direction, which is a challenge to the development of China's network security, so in terms of the accumulation of the entire technology and system, it is a point that needs to be considered.

3. National security sense of direction and mission - It is important to understand that a single product or series, or a simple information security protection system, cannot solve the security problems of users or individuals. In fact, the development process also involves the level of national security and social security. I think a security company without a sense of mission or direction will not have much future.

Reporter: You just mentioned a sense of mission and direction, but as a cybersecurity company, you still have to focus on efficiency. In your opinion, how can we strike a balance between the two?

Yang Jiwen: Just two days ago, I heard a very interesting topic, saying that there are two directions in the cybersecurity industry. One direction is venture capital, which only invests in the direction of making money, and the other is from the perspective of national cybersecurity, which focuses more on the development direction of the cybersecurity industry rather than the direction of making money.

How do companies strike a balance? Some companies have extensive experience in network security, but their economic benefits are not very good; some companies have very good economic benefits, but are not very strong in certain capabilities.

But when we broaden our horizons and look at the world's leading network security vendors, we find that they have a very good balance. On the one hand, they have their own technical accumulation, which can guide the development of network security technology and provide security services for the country; on the other hand, they also have a place in the market, which is a comprehensive accumulation and a manifestation of long-term capacity improvement. I think it is still difficult to find this balance before the comprehensive capabilities reach a certain level. Because in a comprehensive network security protection system, the comprehensive capabilities of a network security vendor are very high. It is not a one-sided direction, not just excellent in products, or excellent in some other capabilities. If you want to balance both your own economic benefits and the responsibility of network security development, you must improve your comprehensive strength in an all-round way.

Reporter: What are the specific aspects of the comprehensive ability you just mentioned?

Yang Jiwen: Today's network security protection has risen to the so-called cyberspace security. It involves aspects such as the Internet of Things, wearable devices, cloud security, and data security. It is not a simple information system protection, so the whole process requires a network security vendor to accumulate in many directions. Now some companies may still be considering shrinking their strategies and concentrating all their investments in an advantageous direction to generate economic benefits. Some companies have developed from a certain technical direction and want to focus on their advantages to demonstrate their capabilities in exchange for necessary economic returns in the market. I think it is still difficult to balance these two types of thinking, because now all aspects of security protection have high requirements for the comprehensive capabilities of enterprises. If only one aspect is done well, it is difficult to achieve a high expectation in the market. Only when you have strong comprehensive capabilities in technology accumulation, product advantage accumulation, and security system can you be able to obtain this balance point.