www.presstv.com Jenny Hammond, Press TV, Shanghai With the largest number of Internet users in the world, China is facing a growing problem dealing with online security. Since 2006 the country has seen an 80 percent increase in the number of computer hacking cases and the Ministry of Public Security has warned that this poses a threat to both public and national Internet security. Hacking cases in China are largely profit driven with hackers making money by producing and distributing viruses to steal online bank and game accounts and the attacks target a wide range of victims including information concerning the government, business and finance, traffic, electric power, education and scientific research. According to official figures, eight out of ten computers connected to the Internet in China have at some point been controlled by malicious software, with over 200 government websites having been attacked by hackers, 80 percent of which originated from overseas. The National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center recorded that in the first half of 2010 more than 127000 overseas IP addresses were involved in maliciously controlling computers on the Chinese mainland. Amid a rising number of hacking cases in China, authorities are stepping up efforts to combat high-tech crime, focusing on gangs that make and sell Trojan viruses and the illegal websites involved in organized hacking or providing training to hackers.