Author of virus gets 4 years' jail

Li Jun, author of the "panda" virus that was used to infect computers across the country, was yesterday sentenced to four years in prison by the People's Court in Xiantao, Hubei Province.

Three accomplices of the 25-year-old man, all aged in their twenties, were given sentences of between one and two-and-a-half years.

The four were found guilty of writing the virus and transmitting it via the Internet, causing damage to millions of computers between last November and March of this year.