Cybercrime concerns grow in China

Cybersecurity specialists say China, with the world's biggest Internet population with about 400m users, probably boasts the planet's largest group of hackers. China last month became the biggest source of targeted hacking attacks, according to a report by MessageLabs, a research arm of Symantec. The security company says just over a quarter of malicious e-mails sent to gain access to sensitive data came from China. "There are probably no more than 1,000 people in China who are capable of producing genuinely new tools," says Eagle Wan, a veteran Chinese hacker who now works for IBM. "But those with basic training who can tweak and use tools are in their hundreds of thousands." According to the China Internet Network Information Center, the state-owned domain name registrar, just over half of China's "netizens" encountered Internet security incidents last year. Most cases involved viruses and Trojan horses - disguised malicious software that facilitates unauthorized access to the recipient's computer - while surfing the web. It said one fifth of users suffered financially.