LONDON (AP) ? Police have arrested a 21-year-old man suspected of writing a virus that attacks Linux computer systems, Scotland Yard said Friday.
The suspected computer hacker was arrested Tuesday at his home in southwest London on suspicion of writing the T0rn virus that masquerades as legitimate software to enter computer systems.
Police seized computer equipment, which is being analyzed by officers from Scotland Yard's computer crime unit, a spokesman for the force said.
He said the unit had been investigating T0rn since November 2001 after it received information from the FBI.
The man, who was not identified because he has not been charged, was arrested under the Computer Misuse Act of 1990 and was released on bail.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at corporate security company Sophos, said T0rn provided hackers with the equivalent of a set of "skeleton keys which let you into everybody's house."
"It creates a back door and once that has been opened hackers can get in and steal information," he said.
Scotland Yard described T0rn as a "Trojan horse hacking tool."
It simplifies the process of hacking the open-source Linux servers. It was used by a Chinese hacking gang known as the "Honker Union" to create the virus known as Lion which circulated in mid-2001.
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