In Sci-fi movies, Federal Agents were supermen: breaking every code, stopping all the viruses just in time, tracing back to the "bad guys" in one or two simple clicks on the keyboard. In reality, however, it is not that easy to do.

The Computer Crime Section of Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police specialises in the investigation of serious computer crimes.

"Our section was established in 1993 as a result of the Computer Crime Ordinance," said Mr. Martin Purbrick, the detective senior inspector of the Computer Crime Section.

According to Mr. Purbrick, the section has five major responsibilities.

"Apart from investigation, we collect forensic evidence when a prosecution is brought to the courtroom.

"This can be done by examination of the computers concerned in the case," suggested Mr. Purbrick.

With the increase of public awareness giving to Hong Kong's computer crime legislation, it is important for the Computer Crime Sector to formulate update policies and procedures relating to computer crime.

"Working with such a fast changing tool, the computer, we maintain liaison with Internet Service Providers and other sources of information in the business," said Mr. Purbrick.

He said the section is also responsible for training and accreditation of police officers in computer crime investigation and forensic examination. They are called "cyber police".

Said he: "Officers of the Computer Crime Section undertake duties related to the above areas.

"They are trained in local universities in each of the related areas."

Even though these netcops are well trained, there are areas they can do little about.

"The identity of those who break the law are protected by the Internet," said Mr. Purbrick.

It is now difficult to trace the offenders on the Net.

"The increasing use of Internet based e-mail like Hotmail and Yahoo gives us a hard time identifying the suspects," said Mr. Purbrick.

He added that encryption of computerized data and postings on public newsgroups and bulletin boards also enhanced the problem.

In fact, these measures that are intended to prevent unsolicited collection of personal data make their investigation even harder.

Furthermore, the technological advancement have led to criminal acts across national borders.

"And most of our evidence collected are just electronic," Mr. Purbrick said.

"Computer-related crimes, therefore, are revealing new issues for law enforcement agencies beyond normal investigations," said Mr. Purbrick.

Mr. Purbrick added that other countries are facing similar problems and are seeking new solutions to it.

Professor Samuel Chanson, the director of Cyberspace Centre at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology also commented on this issue.

"Usually, to trace back to the sender of an e-mail or a virus, we have to locate the Internet Portal address of the computer concerned," said he.

Prof. Chanson added that a user would be suspected, if he or she is using the computer that sends the message concerned during investigation.

"It is very difficult, however, to prove who was actually using the computer at the minute when the message was sent," said he.

"Moreover, some IP addresses share a same port and thus make the process even more complicated," said he.

Professor Chanson continued to talk about anonymity in the virtual world.

"When you send an e-mail, you can be whoever you want. The name of the sender is the information you voluntarily provide, and you can write anything you want," he said.

"You can further enhance your anonymity through "rounders", which is designed for circulating e-mail from one address to another," said Professor Chanson, "so that tracing back to the actual sender is difficult."

"Ordinary people may not know the techniques but computer experts can easily do so. Recently, we found that even some of our students were capable of concealing their identities when they send e-mails."

"We have a solution to deal with this, though. We put locks and surveillance cameras at the computer centres."

In this way, the Cyberspace Centre can keep track of who is using the computer, when he or she is using for, and what it is used for.

"However, we are sometimes stopped by firewalls and concentrators," which hide IP address information and end the trace, as told by Professor Chanson.

While police officers are having headaches about identifying computer crime suspects, the Privacy Commissioner's Office is constantly updating their policy about privacy on the Net.

In pamphlets given out to citizens, the Privacy Commissioner's Office