Hotels Implement Internal Network Inspection under Decree No.176: How All-Optical Networks Complete Self-Inspection and Rectification in One Go

On October 1, 2026, Decree No.176 of the Ministry of Public Security, the Measures for Supervision and Inspection of Cyberspace Security by Public Security Organs, will officially come into force, while Decree No.151 will be repealed simultaneously.

The hotel industry needs to pay special attention to one major change brought by this new regulation: inspection methods adopted by public security authorities have evolved from "on-site visits only" to a combination of online inspections, remote testing and on-site verification. According to Article 4 of Decree No.176, public security organs at or above the prefecture-level city level may conduct remote testing on network facilities other than critical information infrastructure through vulnerability scanning and penetration testing, with notification given three working days in advance.

What does this mean? Public security authorities can preliminarily verify whether the hotel’s network devices are active, how long logs are retained, and whether authentication records are linked to logs remotely. The previous practice of hastily making up records just before inspections will no longer work against remote testing.

Self-inspection and rectification must be conducted genuinely and thoroughly.

I. Key Internal Network Inspection Items for Hotels under Decree No.176

Article 7 of Decree No.176 lists eleven items under priority inspection by public security authorities, four of which are directly relevant to hotels:

1. Real-name authentication and log retention: Whether user registration information and internet access logs are recorded and retained in accordance with the law. This is a fundamental requirement and also the most frequent cause of penalties for hotels.
2. Technical protection measures: Whether technical measures are adopted to guard against computer viruses, network attacks and network intrusions as required by law.
3. Data security and personal information protection: Decree No.176 expands regulatory scope from "internet security" to "cyberspace security", covering cybersecurity, data security and information security. A hotel’s PMS system, guest database and employee information database fall under inspection scope if they process data and personal information, even if not publicly exposed externally.
4. Closed-loop rectification of vulnerabilities: Whether corresponding corrective actions are taken to eliminate cybersecurity vulnerabilities and hidden risks in accordance with the law.

Decree No.176 requires enterprises to build five core capabilities: inventory and classification grading of data assets, operation audit and traceability for databases and business systems, encryption and desensitization for sensitive data transmission, permission control for third-party operation & maintenance, and a closed-loop risk self-inspection and rectification mechanism. For hotels, compliance is more than just maintaining internet logs; it is a systematic project covering data asset inventory through rectification closure.

II. Why Traditional Networking Makes It Hard to Pass Self-Inspection in One Attempt

The prerequisite for self-inspection and rectification is the ability to identify all risks clearly. However, the architecture of traditional hotel networks inherently creates blind spots.

1. Fragmented logs, incomplete integrated records
   Public security inspectors often raise specific requests such as retrieving a guest’s internet access records for a given time period. Under traditional networking, guest-room Wi-Fi logs are stored on Device A, public area logs on Device B, and authentication records on System C. Operation and maintenance staff must log into multiple backends to export and merge data separately, which may take hours.
2. Disconnection between authentication and logs
   The authentication system stores mobile phone numbers, while the log system records IP and MAC addresses. There is no automatic association between the two datasets. When authorities request to match a mobile number with corresponding internet records, hotel staff can only manually compare timestamps — a time-consuming and error-prone process.
3. Incomplete log fields and insufficient retention duration
   Ordinary routers typically retain logs for only 30 days by default, with limited fields including merely IP and access time, lacking core information such as MAC address, authenticated account and visited URL. Decree No.176 mandates log retention for no less than six months with complete fields.
4. Security devices deployed but not activated, rendering protection ineffective
   Many hotels have purchased firewalls, yet security policies have never been enabled and log functions remain unconfigured. This will be easily detected via remote testing by public security authorities.

III. How All-Optical Networks Complete Self-Inspection and Rectification in One Go

The core concept of AINOPOL’s all-optical converged solution: compliance capabilities are built-in rather than deployed as add-ons. Self-inspection and rectification do not require assembling multiple devices and configuring policies one by one; all requirements can be fulfilled within a unified architecture.

Step 1: Unify authentication entry to resolve separation between authentication and logs
Dream series security optical gateways adopt underlying session binding technology, embedding authentication and log modules within the same hardware and operating system. Authenticated account information is directly written into log files without cross-device association.
During self-inspection, administrators can filter by room number, mobile phone number or time period and export unified reports with one click. Every internet access record carries authentication information for direct verification by public security inspectors.

Step 2: Centralized log aggregation with complete fields retained for 180 days
The all-optical gateway comes natively with an integrated audit engine, eliminating the need for an additional audit server. It centrally aggregates real-name internet access logs from guest rooms, public zones and meeting rooms.
Log fields fully cover MAC address, IP address, authenticated account, internet access start and end time, visited URL and other core data. Logs are locally stored in encrypted rolling mode for 180 days and are tamper-proof. Syslog/API push to network supervision platforms is supported, alongside local export of standard formatted reports. Complete data can be retrieved anytime for on-site inspections or online assistance checks.

Step 3: Built-in security protection, reliable against remote testing
Dream series gateways embed multiple security engines including IPS intrusion prevention, AV antivirus and WAF web application firewall. Security functions run continuously online. During public security remote testing, device online status, activation of protection functions and log retention status respond normally.

Step 4: Data and personal information protection to meet new requirements under Decree No.176
Decree No.176 incorporates data security and personal information protection into priority inspection items. AINOPOL’s solution supports encrypted data storage and hierarchical permission control. Sensitive guest information in the PMS system is encrypted during transmission and storage. Combined with the all-optical network three-network isolation architecture, guest network, office network and IoT device network are fully logically isolated to prevent unauthorized internal access and data leakage.

Decree No.176 transforms cybersecurity compliance from a slogan into technically testable, traceable and punishable indicators. Self-inspection and rectification is not simply installing a device. It must guarantee authentication-logs linkage, durable log storage, exportable records, and reliable performance during remote testing.

AINOPOL all-optical converged solution integrates real-name authentication, log retention and security protection into one traceable and exportable system. It supports bypass deployment without modifying existing networks and can go live within half a day. Rather than merely coping with inspections, the architecture eliminates non-compliance risks from the ground up.

FAQ

Q: What does "remote testing" under Decree No.176 mean? How should hotels respond?
A: Decree No.176 authorizes public security organs at or above prefecture-level cities to conduct remote testing via vulnerability scanning and penetration testing with three working days’ advance notice. The core response for hotels is to ensure authentic log retention, complete log fields, and linkage between authentication and logs, so that remote testing can retrieve and verify data smoothly.

Q: What are the key priorities for hotel self-inspection and rectification?
A: Five key tasks: real-name authentication (guests complete identity registration when connecting to Wi-Fi), log retention (minimum six months with complete and retrievable fields), data and personal information protection (encrypted storage of guest information and permission control), basic security protection (anti-virus, intrusion prevention, continuously active devices), and establishment of a data asset inventory and closed-loop rectification mechanism.

Q: What should be noted when retrieving logs?
A: During on-site public security inspections, authorities usually request real-name internet logs for specified time periods, rooms and users. The system needs multi-dimensional targeted search by room number, ID/mobile number, time period, MAC address and more, with pre-built standardized export templates. Exported files adopt universal formats and can be imported directly into public security backend systems.