Goner worm writers nicked

Teenagers face up to five years in prison...

Four Israeli teenagers will appear before a magistrate today after being arrested over the creation of the 'Goner' worm on Friday.

The four boys, all aged between 15 and 16, are from the Israeli town of Naharia.

Israeli police uncovered evidence last Wednesday of the boys 'handles' (hacker nicknames), suid and nonick2 in a message which appears when the virus is activated.

According to US wires, at least one of the boys has already admitted his part in creating the worm.

Under Israeli law, the boys could go to prison for the crime for up to five years.

The Goner worm is activated when the user opens an infected attachment. It then infiltrates the user's address book and proliferates itself through the addresses it finds within.

The worm also infects PCs through instant messaging services.

The worm appeared on 4 December and quickly spread until it was inside one in every 30 emails.