Chinese authorities have arrested a group of hackers in
connection with the creation and distribution of the Fujacks
worm.
The worm, also known as Whboy, made headlines in January because it
converts the icons of infected programs into a picture of a panda
burning joss-sticks as it steals usernames and passwords from
online games players.
In the final quarter of 2006 alone, security firm Sophos detected 31,000 web pages
containing versions of the Fujacks malware.
According to Chinese media reports, eight suspects have been held
in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province in central
China.
One of those arrested, 25 year-old Li Jun, is accused of using the
hacker handle 'Whboy' and creating the Fujacks malware.
A police statement quoted in local media reports stated that Li Jun
earned more than $12,500 by selling the malware to other internet
hackers.
Sophos published its annual Security Threat Report in January
detailing the latest trends in malware around the world.
The report identified China-based web servers as being second only
to the US for the amount of hosted malware. Some 30 per cent of the
world's malware originates in China.
"The international community should applaud the Chinese authorities
for investigating one of its first major cyber-crime cases," said
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
The Fujacks worm steals usernames
and passwords from online gamers.