Viruses infected nearly a million Chinese computers over last week's National Day holiday when many chose to stay home and surf the Internet rather than go out, state media said on Monday.
The computers were infected by three different types of viruses and 118,000 computers crashed on one day alone, Xinhua news agency said on its Web site, citing the Beijing News. The brains behind it made 145,000 yuan ($19,300) in scams including selling anti-virus software to combat the virus and were jailed for four years.
China's booming Internet is filled with tech-savvy youngsters and problems including addiction, hacking and virtual property theft are on the rise.