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 she 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.

Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies

Source: Xinhua