Preparations for an imminent war are on. This one will be fought with electrons traveling at the speed of light across continents, with the battle objective being to seize control of servers and online equipment in China, especially during the Beijing Olympic Games the country is slated to host.

Very recently, China has surpassed the US in terms of having the world's largest Internet population. However its online space remains malware-ridden with 58 percent of the world's bot-controlled computers and close to a million Trojan-hacked computers.

Also recently, the CNN faced the wrath of some putative Chinese hackers (who call themselves 'Revenge of the Flame') who were not happy with the manner in which the unrest in Tibet was being showcased on the TV channel. Earlier in 2001, following an emergency landing by an American military plane in China, a full-bloodied war was fought between Chinese and American computer geeks with each side defacing and hacking as many sites belonging to the other side.

The Olympics are a world event and naturally very important to the Chinese -- especially when they're going to host the event. Not only is China's reputation at stake, so it that of the hackers and company. Both parties are wanting in the added buzz created by a game of such magnitude. Besides organizers in China are wary of hackers whose track record so far is far from comforting.

China claims its National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team (CNCERT) is aware, and prepared to tackle any problems that might surface. Apparently there have already been several conferences to discuss tighter security measures to ensure a disruption-free Olympics.