China has announced plans to clamp down on censorship-dodging software. Strong censorship laws exist in the country, meaning that citizens often try to find ways onto banned sites using virtual private networks, or VPNs. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that unauthorised internet connections would be “cleaned up” as the organisation felt the connection market was “disordered”. The ministry announced that it planned a 14-month clear-out of the country's internet, confirming that each currently available connection would have to be officially inspected in order to continue functioning. VPNs work as a way to allow users to link their device to another computer or server without using public connections, which are heavily censored in China. Businesses also use the technology in order to allow employees' confidential data to be sent between computers without being accessed by authorities. The crackdown is yet another attempt to remove access to all such connections from Chinese internet users.Â
