An Israeli teenager suspected of hacking into a US police system and erasing records has been arrested and questioned by local police.

The unnamed 19-year-old was released on bail after appearing before a court yesterday in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The youth, who may be charged with computer fraud offences, allegedly hacked into a police computer system in Pennsylvania (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/pennsylvania). Israeli police brought the youth in for questioning following a tip-off from the FBI, which is leading the investigation in the US.

Details of the alleged attack remain sketchy, but Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman told AP (http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=cp_tech_home&articleID=1547924) that the hacking "destroyed some records in the computer system of the [Pennsylvania] police department". ®