Virus man arrested

By Simon Aughton

Posted on 20 Sep 2002 at 13:11

Police have arrested a Surrey man accused of distributing the first Trojan horse-style virus designed to attack Linux machines.

The T0rn virus spread throughout 2001 but caused little disruption or damage. Graham Cluey, senior technical consultant at anti-virus company Sophos told Reuters, that as far as he could recall, it never made the list of top ten most active viruses.

Nonetheless the arrest will give encouragement to law enforcement agencies charged with the labyrinthine task of tracking down virus writers.

Police took computer equipment from the man's home, but have yet to identify him. He is being charged under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act.