(Minghui.org) There are many types of rogue software, especially in China. Recently I have learned a lesson the hard way.
Office Software
Because of my work, I needed to download an office software. Due to compatibility issues, however, I could only use an earlier version, which had already been phased out on its official website. As a result, I planned to obtain it from a well-known software download website in China.
Before that, I had already heard about malware and spyware. So I was very cautious when downloading this specific software. I unchecked all options that would allow the installation of other software during the download process. But there were still issues after I downloaded the software. My computer became very slow, and its antivirus software started issuing warnings frequently. At the same time, new software popped up on the desktop one after another, even though I never chose to install any of those software.
I found at least seven new pieces of software had been installed without my consent. They included an input tool, diagnostic tool, browser, Tencent video, mobile phone emulator, picture viewing software, and a private game server. Even the homepage of my browser was altered. During that time, the antivirus software issued 24 virus notifications. To remove these rogue software, I spent about an hour and had to restart the computer several times.
Hidden in the software that I needed for my work, these rogue software formed an alliance that occupied my computer resources, collected information, and secretly modified my web browser. To make things worse, they were forcibly installed on my computer although I had clearly denied this. As a result, the computer performance quickly declined. In the end, there was no other way to deal with the rogue software other than using anti-virus software to remove them.
It dawned on me that the software industry in China has been doing this on purpose–they hide rogue software in their legitimate software and thus spread malware everywhere when people download legitimate software; users would then have to use anti-virus software to remove the malware. This reminds me of the Chinese Communist Party’s tactic of creating problems that cause people to suffer and then offering “solutions” to try to win people’s trust and loyalty.
Relationship to Communism
In many ways, communism is like the software industry in modern China. To seize power, the Communist Party creates chaos in society by pitting one group of people against another, resulting in worker strikes, student strikes, family separation, cultural degeneration, social discrimination, economic crisis, and loss of faith. As a result, society becomes so corrupt that no ordinary means can solve these problems.
The Communist Party then emerges as the savior, offering a “solution” to all problems by “disappearing” those dissidents who dare to raise awareness of these social issues. As a result, in communist societies, the problems still exist, but whoever dares to mention them is silenced.
Fake products have flooded China, including fake wine, cigarettes, milk, eggs, vaccines, frauds, counterfeit currency, and fake news. They are just like rogue software and computer viruses. They are a result of the moral degeneration because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has replaced traditional values with class struggle, hatred, brutality, and lies. Its atheist doctrine and focus on short-term gains make Chinese people pursue money at all costs.
Forced Installation of an “Anti-Fraud” App
While the rogue software tried to control my computer, the CCP has been pushing to monitor everyone’s digital life by various means.
A recent example is an “anti-fraud” app developed by the Ministry of Public Security. This app requests access to all information on one’s cell phone, including all apps already installed. As such, this app places all of the user’s network activities under surveillance. Nonetheless, its installation is mandatory for government agencies, organizations, and companies. People who refuse to do so have been barred from working, returning home, or even renting an apartment.
The CCP has a horrific record of suppressing people and violating human rights. In the name of countering fraud, the regime is pushing more measures to target efforts that expose its brutality and call for freedom.
How Long Will This Terror Continue?
Several decades ago, peeking at someone else’s diary was considered shameful behavior. But now, the CCP manipulates the state apparatus to censor and surveil people’s speech and thought. Although implemented by high-tech companies, these surveillance software and apps are promoted or enforced by the CCP, leaving ordinary citizens with no alternatives.
The CEO of a renowned Chinese IT firm once openly advocated that Chinese people would rather exchange privacy for convenience, efficiency, and “safety.”
The CCP has put a net in place to monitor everything with state-of-the-art technologies. They include video surveillance, public transportation, bank transactions, hotel, internet posts, and real time cell phone monitoring. This has turned China into an Orwellian state as described in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
“The history of the CCP is a process of its gradual accumulation of every single wickedness, domestic and foreign. The CCP has perfected its nine inherited traits, giving them ‘Chinese characteristics’: evil, deceit, incitement, unleashing the scum of society, espionage, robbery, fighting, elimination, and control,” says the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party published in 2004, “All of the inherited characteristics aim to achieve a single goal: to control the populace through the use of terror.”
A 19-year-old man was recently pursued by Chinese police even when he was overseas. His only “crime” was questioning the CCP’s narratives on the Sino-Indian conflict. This shows that the CCP’s control of public opinion has gone beyond China’s borders.
This is why practitioners of Falun Gong, the largest faith group persecuted in modern China, have been working tirelessly to inform Chinese as well as people in other countries of the urgency of rejecting the CCP. Since the publication of the Nine Commentaries, over 370 million people have renounced their current and past memberships in the CCP and its youth organizations.
In order to help people see uncensored news, Falun Gong practitioners have been promoting software that can be used to circumvent the CCP’s firewall. The CCP’s latest attempt at getting everyone to install its "anti-fraud software may well be aimed at countering practitioners’ efforts. It’s just like the rogue software that attacked my computer: we just need to put in more effort into removing it.
Removing rogue software is not easy, but we need to do it to keep our computers and cell phones clean and safe. Similarly, rejecting the CCP is also necessary for us to safeguard our principles and integrity, and secure a safe future.
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Category: Perspective
