讀後心得

According to a survey by the UK Financial Times, five VPN applications (including Turbo VPN, VPN Proxy Master, Thunder VPN, Snap VPN, and Signal Secure VPN) are suspected of being connected to the Chinese military, with three of them having over a million downloads, raising cybersecurity concerns. The companies behind these applications, Qihoo 360, have previously faced U.S. sanctions due to ties with the Chinese military. Apple has removed Turbo VPN and Snap VPN, while Google Play has yet to take them down. Experts advise choosing reputable VPNs, as Chinese law requires developers to store user data and provide it to the government, making Chinese VPN applications unreliable.

The British Financial Times investigation shows that at least five VPN applications in the App Store and Google Play Store are suspected of being connected to the Chinese military. These applications include Turbo VPN, VPN Proxy Master, Thunder VPN, Snap VPN, and Signal Secure VPN, three of which have surpassed one million downloads, raising cybersecurity concerns.

According to reports, the developers of these five applications are Qihoo 360, a company listed in Shanghai that has been sanctioned by the U.S. government since 2020 due to its close ties with the Chinese military and has been listed as a company cooperating with the Chinese military. Recently, the developer has also been recruiting for a "Monitoring and Analysis Platform Data Specialist," requiring applicants to be familiar with American culture.

The purpose of VPN applications is to protect users' online privacy and prevent hacking attacks through fake public Wi-Fi hotspots, and they can also be used to download audio, video, and games from other countries across regions. However, the credibility of a VPN depends on the development company behind it, and certain fake VPNs may expose users' browsing history and personal information to the developers.

Experts recommend that users should only download VPNs provided by reputable companies, especially because Chinese VPN applications are generally untrustworthy, as the law requires developers to retain usage logs and provide them to the government. As early as 2017, applications that did not comply with this requirement were removed from the App Store. Currently, some applications have been taken down from the App Store, while Google Play continues to list them.

More noteworthy news includes the issuance of 11 million-dollar prizes for the uniform invoice lottery, the new tax deduction system for housing rental in Chiayi that only requires a minimum expense of 35 dollars is about to be implemented, and landlords could face fines of up to 500,000 dollars for raising rent.