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Stella Lee

Police are to hold talks on how to stop the theft of items from internet gamers.

Officers will discuss with online games suppliers how to halt a sharp rise in thefts of players' virtual items, such as weapons.

Eighteen months ago,  a 16-year-old boy jumped to his death after learning that one of his favourite weapons in an online game had been stolen by a hacker.

Computer crime cases reported last year rose to 588 last year, from 272 a year earlier. Of the cases, 288 involved online gaming, up from 27 such cases in 2002.

Superintendent Patrick Lam Cheuk-ping,  of the Commercial Crime Bureau, said the police would seek games suppliers' help in gathering evidence and improving security on clients' accounts.

John Tsang Chun-wah,  the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, told the Legislative Council yesterday that the government had  asked the online games industry to consider formulating information-security standards and an audit mechanism to strengthen security for gamers.

Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association internal secretary Kenny Cheung Shing-kwok  discussed the online theft issue  with the Consumer Council last week.

Mr Cheung  said the group would recommend games suppliers ask people wanting to open a player account to give  the e-mail address they had registered with their internet service provider. He said this would warn potential offenders that they could be traced.

Four youths, aged 15 to 18, were charged on March 1 with accessing a computer with dishonest intent after allegedly stealing online game weapons or tokens from other players. They face a maximum five-year sentence  if convicted.

Mr Lam  said: 'This sends a very strong message to young people. This type of case often involves young people who like playing online games but are ignorant of the seriousness of the crime.'

Mr Lam  and Mr Cheung  said many cyber-theft cases involved  failure to protect  passwords  after  accounts were shared  or  when items were traded online.



Police seek suppliers' help to curb sharp rise in cyber-theft