Chinese computer experts highlighted a flaw in a the screening software which could lead to a “large-scale disaster” just a day after the software was made compulsory for all computer systems sold within the country.

The Chinese government, which employs strict censorship laws on the media and electronic communications, mandated that all computers in the country must include a form of screening software which is designed to filter out any offensive content from the internet.

But researchers have revealed that the software contains a series of flaws that could allow a hacker to distribute malicious software including computer viruses and spyware.

“We found a series of software flaws,” Isaac Mao, a blogger and social entrepreneur in China, as well as a research fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, told the BBC.

In one example, Mr Mao highlighted that tests had shown that communications between the software and the servers at the company that developed the program were unencrypted.

He claimed that this could allow hackers to “steal people’s private information” or “place malicious script” on computers in the network to “affect [a] large scale disaster.”

The launch of the software has attracted further criticism, with claims that the filter is only effective on Microsoft Windows PCs and running the Internet Explorer browser. Those using Mac or Linux operating systems, as well as Windows users opting for alternative browsers such as Firefox have reportedly been able to bypass the software.

China has long had a policy of restricting internet use in the country, with several high profile sites and news agencies banned to Chinese users in what has been dubbed “The Great Firewall of China” in what is widely seen as an attempt by Chinese authorities to play down criticism of the country’s current regime.

In response to criticism from the Western media, Chinese authorities relaxed many restrictions during the 2008 Beijing Olympics but more recently, sites such as Blogger and Twitter were reportedly banned to Chinese users last week due to the 20^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.

The survey, carried out by network solutions provider Telindus, comes after a series of high-profile security failings in the public sector in recent months and reveals an alarming number of councils are leaving themselves open to malicious attacks.

Whilst nearly have of all councils have reviewed their data security policies after the recent revelations of data losses although 43% have no plans to change their existing policies.

The city councils that are not upgrading their data protection technologies rely on solely on password authentication and the diligence of staff to follow data security guidelines that state that sensitive data must not be transferred to laptop computers. However Telindus claim that the 92% of the councils that allow their staff to connect to the council network from remote locations are running the risk of human error or malicious sabotage.

Commenting on the report, Telindus managing director Mark Hutchinson warned that the constant evolution of computer security threats meant that it was essential that local authorities continue to develop their IT security policies.

“Data leakage is becoming more commonplace as mobile working becomes more popular and the vast majority of the public and private sector still needs to play catch-up to this latest data security risk,” he said. “Resting on your laurels and relying on old security measures in a modern working environment is short-sighted and foolhardy.

“Encrypting data certainly helps protect data from the opportunist thief. However; there is no way of telling whether the encryption method has been compromised once in their possession.

“Councils must think beyond encryption when reviewing their security measures and consider installing a ‘track and kill’ device on all laptops.”