"The most common crimes involve theft, racketeering, fraud of on-line resources and services, mass disruption and inconvenience to the public," said Xu Jianzhuo, deputy director of the Internet security bureau under the Public Security Ministry.

The number of Chinese with access to the Internet exceeds 100 million. Xu said last year police investigated more than 20,000 complaints of on-line theft, but very few resulted in prosecutions.

However, Xu said the actual cases of Internet theft, in just the categories of on-line banks and games accounts, could be in the millions.

"But just a handful of people have been convicted in recent years," said Xu, attributing the low prosecution rate to inadequate legislation.

Chinese law only forbids hacking into the classified information network concerning state affairs, national defence, and high-end technology development and stipulates a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment.

It also forbids sabotage of computer systems by deleting, changing or adding data with a maximum penalty of five years in jail.

From 1997 to 2005, police investigated 11,521 alleged Internet crimes, but only 14 cases resulted in convictions for sabotage, said Li Jingjing, security solutions bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.

"The legislation is so vague that it is difficult to apply in court," Li said, citing its failure to specifically criminalize hacking or sabotage in areas such as healthcare, finance, and energy.

"Soft penalties only encourage more Internet hackers," Li said,adding that many on-line crimes were never reported to police.

The government has launched a series of campaigns in recent years against Internet porn and on-line gambling. Xu said the police had made great progress in these areas, but could do little against Internet theft and fraud.

"Hacker activities are rampant," Xu said, noting that the advanced technology used by hackers increased the challenge for the police.

Police figures show 80 percent of computer systems were affected by one of the 72,836 new viruses in 2005. About 9,100 websites reported attacks by hackers, including 2,027 government websites.

Xu said the majority of hackers were operating for their own profit, rather than just showing off as their predecessors did."They focused on stealing information and attacking business rivals."

He said the police had struggled to prosecute them, but they lacked the technology to locate victims and collect evidence. Enditem

Editor:

Lu Hui