A destructive computer virus invented by a group of 11 people stole and sold the personal details of more than eight million gamers, a Xuzhou court was told.

The virus called Wenrou had attacked more than 1,200 websites, seriously damaged the operation of more than 40 online games and contributed to half of all thefts of online game accounts by the time police dismantled the group in August 2008, according to the Gulou District People's Court in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province.

Account passwords and virtual assets were stolen from more than eight million gamers, and 13 domestic online game operators in the country suffered huge losses, according to chinacourt.org.

In May 2007, two defendants surnamed Lu and Zeng allegedly invented the Trojan virus program targeting online games.

They allegedly embedded the virus into many websites. Computers would become contaminated from a user's simple mouse click on any of the infected websites.

When users later logged onto their online game, their account details were stolen and sent automatically to a designated email address.

Lu and Zeng allegedly improved and updated the program as requested by a third defendant surnamed Yan.

Yan and a fourth defendant surnamed Chen were allegedly responsible for selling the program. The four would then split the profits according to the group's agreement, the court was told.

In April 2008, Yan allegedly named the program after his girlfriend's online nickname 'Wenrou'.

As the program spread, the gang allegedly developed a sales network of 110 individuals covering 16 provinces in the country.

On July 29, the Jiangsu provincial public security bureau received a report of a virus at a game website and began an investigation.

Among the 11 defendants tried yesterday, Lu and Zeng each allegedly made more than 320,000 yuan (US$46,800); Yan and Chen made 310,000 yuan total. Other defendants allegedly made up to 500,000 yuan.

Of the 110 suspects, more than 30 will go on trial.

The court hearing for the group of 11 alleged computer hackers is ongoing.

(China Daily August 12, 2009)