In brief A computer virus specifically designed to steal files with names such as "exam" or "test questions" has reportedly been discovered by a Chinese Internet security firm.

The "exam theft" virus is capable of infecting Microsoft Word and Excel files and uploading targeted documents onto the Net, the Shanghai Daily News reports (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200408/24/eng20040824_154536.html). The paper reports that there is a thriving trade in black-market exam papers and implies this might have motivated the creation of the virus.

However Beijing-based Jiangmin Science Technology, which first reported the virus, was unable to back up this aspect of the story. "We haven't found a direct link between the new virus and the exam paper leak that occurred two months ago," Cao Lingxiang, a PR official at Jiangmin Science Technology told the Shanghai Daily News. ®

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