Money is by far the primary motivation for most of today's virus writing and spamming in the world of computers except when it comes to China.

For Chinese hackers, gaming prestige outweighs financial gain, according to a new report on Internet security. The target of Chinese Internet malicious software, or malware, is to steal better online weapons and the profiles of the most famous gamers.

According to the international e-security company Sophos' Security Threat Report 2007, Chinese hackers accounted for 30 percent of the malware written last year, surpassed only by the US.

The annual report tracks the origin of malware as well as which types of viruses and Trojans were discovered last year internationally. Sophos has offices worldwide from which it delivers e-security to educational facilities and businesses.

The report also reveals some national characteristics of hackers. Brazilian hackers tend to produce simulations of banks' websites, attempting to get your credit card information, also called phishing; while hackers from Russia and Sweden create backdoors to vulnerable computers. The motivation is financial gain.

In contrast, the Chinese malware aims at "health", "power" and gaming profiles.

Stealing passwords from online gamers might appear less harmful than credit card theft and it does save the culprits from staying up all night playing. But it is not all fun, as 19-year-old Zhang Qiwen can testify.

In August, the Shanghai resident accidentally downloaded a Trojan, a kind of malware mainly employed to locate password information, disguised in the form of an extension, while playing Warcraft.

The Trojan transferred all the "gold", which is the credits necessary for playing, from his private account to an unknown account overnight. He also lost some virtual equipment.

"It made me feel angry and helpless, because several months of efforts had been wasted," Zhang explained.

"It is a crime", Zhang said, hoping the police will find the culprits. He added that cash will flow in the hacker's pocket as the stolen "gold" is expected to be on sale at e-commerce websites such as Taobao.com or ebay.com.cn.

Zhang Di, a 19-year-old from Wenzhou, has had several friends fall victim to gaming malice. As a big fan of online gaming, he finds it tough because he does not know which organization to turn to for help.

Players are banned from sites if they cheat, leaving the option of rejoining the game through a stolen identity.

(China Daily 01/31/2007 page1)