HAMBURG Sherlock Holmes would have had a lot of fun with the Internet. Rarely has a medium offered such fast and broad access to information at all times. And this speed and accessibility is being put to heavy use by the successors of the famous detective.

In Europe, the German Office of Security in Information Technology (BSI) has also recognized the possibilities of the Internet and has begun to warn against professional data thieves who spy on behalf of industry.

In many cases there is not a single trace of the break-in, warns BSI spokesman Michael Dickopf. Of course, big industry is not the only client for detectives. Many smaller business employ them to put workers under observation during working hours, for example.

Detectives operating internationally rely on electronic databases. "We are, next to the United States government, the largest user of on-line databases," says Lydia Jaschke of Kroll Worldwide, specialists in the detection of corruption and fraud. The on-line detective agency digdirt.com, located in Washington, D.C., offers its services to spy worldwide - even in countries where the privacy laws differ significantly from those in the United States.

In addition to addresses and phone numbers, the detectives will determine whether a person has ever declared bankruptcy, had problems with the law, or accumulated a mountain of debt. In the United States, they can go even further: Does an applicant for an important job have an artificial heart? Is a divorced man required to support his ex-wife? Has a potential future partner ever been arrested for driving drunk?

If the electronic research doesn't produce enough information, digdirt.com will put former CIA agents on the trail, among other tactics.

"The kind of research carried out in the United States is simply not legal in some countries in Europe," says Karl Altman, a regional manager for Finjan, an internationally active security software firm.

While the Website for the Texas Office for Public Safety offers on-line access to their criminal databank, for example, authorities in Germany, by contrast, are prohibited from offering such information.

Still in spite of the stricter data privacy laws in Europe, private information detectives offer a different vantage point on their target: "Other than search engines, one magnificent source of information is newsgroups and chat rooms," says Peter Krohn from the detective firm Secu-MA in the northern German city of Uetersen.

For detectives, the new technologies are more than just a research tool. They are even more helpful for personal surveillance. Through a cable connection between the computer and the monitor, for example mouse movement and data input can be captured and collected. This allows an employer to inspect just how much time their workers are spending at computer games and on-line shopping instead of work.

Naivety often makes the job of a detective easier. Many users are perfectly willing to give out personal information about themselves, such as when they are setting up a free E-mail account. Says security expert Altmann: "This data is often resold."

In light of information that people give out about themselves on private home pages, detective Krohn has been able to set up complete personal dossiers. In the United States, we have an almost 100 percent rate of success when it comes to personal research." Even Sherlock Holmes himself could only dream about that.

(DPA)