Nintendo headquarters bomb threat result of computer virus

A bomb treat made against Nintendo of Japan's headquarters early last month could be the result of a new computer virus, reports Japanese publication NHK.

The virus allows a third party to remotely access a computer and perform tasks using the computer's IP address. This resulted in a 27-year-old man's arrest, after police traced threats made against Nintendo headquarters and the Ise Shinto Shrine to the man's computer.

The virus found on the man's computer was the same as that on the computer of animator Masaki Kitamura, who was arrested in July for threatening to commit mass murder in Osaka. After discovery of the virus, both men have been released from police custody.

Japanese authorities are looking into who has been dispensing the virus and how it infects computers.