How much is your identity worth?

A Credit card number for US50cents (SG72cents). A bank account number could be yours for US$30. An entire identity consisting of name, credit card details and passwords comes even cheaper - just US$10. Yes, all these are available online, if you know where to look.

This list of items for sale by popularity were released in a 2007 Internet Security Threat report by US-based Internet security firm Symantec late last year. Home users here may increasingly be targeted as Singapore's broadband Internet penetration continues to rise - from 62 per cent last January to 75 per cent last month, according to figures from the Infocomm Development Authority.

Experts say threats are likely to escalate as more computers here remain online for extended periods of time with broadband. According to the Symantec report, Singapore ranks seventh in the region for having the most bots - infected computers which have software allowing others to control them.