Police from the UK and Finland have swooped on a suspected gang of computer virus-writers, arresting three British men in the process.

The Metropolitan police conducted a joint operation with Finnish authorities in an attempt to crack down on the renowned M00P group of suspected online virus-writers.

A 63-year-old man was arrested in Suffolk, a 28-year-old man in Scotland and a 19-year-old man in Finland, while a number of computers were seized from residential properties in both Finland and the UK.

All three men are being held on suspicion of being involved in an international conspiracy to infect computers using viruses attached to unsolicited commercial e-mail, otherwise known as spam.

Police say the men are suspected of targeting British businesses since 2005, in a highly organised campaign that has led to thousands of computers being infected by viruses, undetectable by common anti-virus software.

Users of the infected computers are unaware of the virus, but those behind it have access to any data stored on the computer.

'These men appear to be connected via an online company,' Detective Constable Bob Burls of the Met's computer crime unit said.

'We believe the suspects created and adapted viruses with the aim of causing massive infection by spamming.

'Today's arrests will send a clear worldwide signal to the authors of malicious software that national borders will not limit the ability and commitment of law enforcement authorities to clamp down on this criminal activity.'

M & C Tech