"Data security is more important than ever before, and data like critical infrastructure has become the target of cyber attacks," said Zhou at the Internet Security Conference (ISC) 2021 held on Tuesday in Beijing. "Direct attacks on big data will lead to the shutdown of business systems."

Zhou emphasized data theft, tampering and leaking will bring about more serious problems than cyber attacks, while noting data security concerns national security.

The Data Security Law, which was enacted in June and will take effect on Sept 1, shows that the country attaches huge importance to data security and cybersecurity, Zhou said. "In the digital age, big data will be the core of many of our businesses."

Zhou pointed out that the digital age is characterized by three things: Everything is programmable, everything is connected, and business is driven by big data, which also means digitalization has made the whole cybersecurity environment more vulnerable.

He also calls for establishing an integrated cybersecurity defense system at the national level, industrial level and regional level when facing new cybersecurity challenges.

Wu Hequan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said more efforts are needed to strengthen data security and protect the privacy and interests of users.

More than 42 million malware attacks were detected in China in 2020, according to a cybersecurity report released by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China.

The number of malware attacks from the United States accounted for 53.1 percent of the total foreign attacks, and 7.2 percent of the foreign attacks were from India, said the report.