New Delhi, Sept. 28 : China’s Ministry for Public Security appears to be facing a tough battle in tackling cyber crime, especially during the past three years.

According to The China Daily, ministry officials remain unoptimistic about their ability to tackle online theft and fraud, and are demanding the introduction of legislation on cyber crime and the protection of virtual property.

According to the latest survey conducted by the ministry, 65.7 percent of the 15,000 companies polled had suffered Internet security problems from May last year to May this year, 11.7 percentage points higher than the previous period.

The problems include computer viruses, worms and Trojans, junk mail, port scanning, Internet attacks and web-page manipulation.

It also indicates that 91.4 percent of computers, the highest ratio recorded since the annual survey started in 2001, were attacked by viruses compared with 74 percent for the previous period, and 87.9 percent for the period, May 2004 to May 2005.

Leading anti-virus companies in China said they also recorded the spread of extremely active viruses, and expressed concern about rampant illegal online activities.

"We have seen an explosive growth in viruses that maliciously steal accounts and virtual properties," Shi Yu, an anti-virus engineer with Beijing Rising International Software, told China Daily Thursday.

Fu Sheng, a general manager with the anti-virus department of Qihoo, said: "The profit is huge. Selling a bug sometimes can make several million yuan, and the risks are very low." (With inputs from ANI)