Hackers milk Chinese online bonanza

The craze in online games among Chinese netizens is fueling an increasingly lucrative market for computer hackers, security firms have said.

"There is a huge underground market and major revenue comes from selling game accounts or virtual items stolen from hijacked computers," said Zhang Yumu, vice-president of Beijing Rising International Software Co, one of the largest domestic security firms.

A recent report by State broadcaster CCTV said that Trojan horse attacks, which allow hackers remote access to a targeted computer system, are making up a market that is expected to be worth 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) this year.