Organisers of a security conference in Singapore are challenging hackers to break into a Web server and leave their mark. If successful, the hackers could win $10,000 although the organisers of the conference believe this will be money well spent if it alerts people to the issues of Web security. "At the Infosecurity Asia exhibition, we will be displaying a score card on the number of times the unprotected server was intruded," said Mr Jimmy Lau, president of Reed Exhibition Companies, Singapore. "This will be used to illustrate why IT security should be taken seriously," he said. But the move has been described as the techie equivalent of waving a red rag to a bull by the director of Gen Technologies, who issued similar challenge to the hacking community last year. Then, it was to test the robustness of a security product. But while Access Denied remained intact, the man behind the product had his personal details at an unnamed credit reference agency altered by a hacker bearing a grudge. "They just need to be careful, that's all," said Christian Souter, of Gen Technologies. ®