ORGANISED crime syndicates are raking in fat profits in cyberspace, and becoming one of the biggest online menaces.

Such professional cyber-gangsters are among the quickest to use new technology to, say, hijack and loot online banking or video game accounts. Some are making big bucks renting out hacking tools to others less skilled to cause havoc, say security experts.

According to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) IT security consultant Yu Chien Siang, such crime syndicates have been quick to realise the promise of cyber-crimes - which can be more profitable than peddling drugs in the real world - and swiftly 'reinventing' themselves to become high-tech hacking gangs.

He was the keynote speaker at the 17th annual GovernmentWare infocomm security conference held at the Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday.

Just last month, many fans of online game Maple Story found their accounts hacked into and looted by one such hacking gang, reportedly of Chinese origin.

To guard against such threats, the Government is beefing up cyber-security here. The three-day GovernmentWare event, which is expected to attract over 600 infocomm security professionals, is one effort to raise awareness and equip Singapore professionals with the knowledge and tools to counter such threats.

Topics covered include new cyber-threats, new developments in fingerprint and facial-recognition technology, and wireless security.

The MHA has also matchmade tech giant Microsoft with the Singapore Management University to improve the quality of infocomm security education here.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.