Internet subject to overseas attacks

China is a victim of harsh and frequent Internet hacking rather than the source of such attacks as the Western media is fond of portraying, said a Chinese Internet security center.

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal earlier this year had reported that their computer systems were breached by China-based hackers, and China has been regularly characterized as a major origin of web threats in the United States.

In fact, relatively low security awareness and fierce hacking from overseas have made Chinese Internet users victims of cyber crime, the National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center, also known as CNCERT, said in a statement on Thursday.