China's rapid emergence as a hotspot for criminal hacking activities is enabled by the open and unfettered availability of sophisticated hacking tools, according to security researchers attending the Black Hat conference here this week. Many of the hacking tools are inexpensive, highly customizable, and easy to use. Most of the early users of the malware products have sought to steal has been from from online gaming accounts inside China. But now experts are seeing much broader use of such tools. Hackers in China are developing malicious software "almost like a commercial product", said Val Smith founder of Attack Research, a Los Alamos, N.M.-based security firm. The products come complete with version numbers, product advertising, end-user license agreements and 24-hour support services, he said.

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