Singapore Holds Computer Hacking Contest

SINGAPORE— Singapore said Tuesday it would organize a

contest to find the tech-savvy city-state’s best computer hacker.

Six pairs will compete in the Aug. 20 “BlackOPS: HackAttack

Challenge 2004,” organized by the government-funded National

Infocomm Competency Center, said its marketing manager Yvonne Choo.

They will “penetrate, exploit, gain access and obtain

privileged information from the other teams’ servers, for the

purpose of corporate espionage,” the center said on its Web site.

Teams will also have to defend their organization’s networks

against hacking from other teams in the daylong event, it added.

Choo said he hoped the contest would help shed light on ways to

prevent actual computer attacks.

The prize for the best hacker will be a DVD burner and free

computer classes.

Asia has been the root of some of the worst attacks by hackers

in recent years.

In May 2000, the so-called Love Bug virus, released in the

Philippines, overwhelmed e-mail systems worldwide and caused tens

of millions of dollars in damage.

Close to 80 percent of Singapore’s 4 million citizens own

personal computers and the island is largely considered to be the

most technologically advanced in Southeast Asia.

Hackers can be jailed for up to three years or fined up to

S$10,000 (US$5,810) under the city-state’s Computer Misuse Act.