China hackers running wild

Chinese e-crime police have warned that the hacking situation in China is worsening.

The Ministry of Public Security announced on Monday that it had made 460 hacker arrests 2010, but that hacking cases had an annual growth rate of 80 percent. "The network situation is still very grim, with hacker attacks and sabotage activities in a heightened state," the ministry said in a statement. "A large number of computer systems do not have effective security measures, and internet users have poor safety awareness."

The Network Security Protection Service, part of the ministry, had focused on detecting network hacking attacks, taking down botnets, and investigating denial of service attacks against government websites. Chinese police had also sought to disrupt forums selling Trojan kits and e-crime instructions. Most hacking attacks had been for profit, said the statement.

For more on this story, read China says hacker situation 'very grim' on ZDNet UK.