JOHANNESBURG: Football fans making plans for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will likely face a surge in Internet crime targeting online ticket and hotel shoppers, security experts warned. Internet security analysts with Symantec anti-virus company said they have discovered a botnet — an illicit network of computers hijacked by Internet hackers — set up to snag personal details from World Cup shoppers. “We have recently realized that one of the botnets is specializing in just FIFA-related activities,” Symantec’s Shantanu Ghosh told reporters. “They are advertising and trying to focus on ... attacks specifically around the (World Cup).” Ghosh said people searching online for tickets, lodging and transportation are likely to encounter “phishing” sites — fake merchants set up to mine credit card and bank details — and receive spam emails designed to lure them into revealing their personal information. “The rule is, if something looks too good to be true, then it’s likely to be a scam,” said Gordon Love, Africa regional director for Symantec. South Africa faces a “perfect storm” of Internet insecurity this year brought on by hosting the World Cup, and a leap in broadband Internet use following the launch of three new undersea cables, Symantec analysts said. Major events such as the World Cup tend to draw an increase in online attacks. Symantec found attacks increased 40 per cent before the 2006 World Cup and 66 per cent during the 2008 Olympics. “Malicious activity usually affects computers that are connected to high-speed broadband Internet because these connections are attractive targets for attackers,” the company said. A recent survey of Internet use in South Africa by Cisco and World Wide Worx found broadband use grew by more than 50 per cent last year.