About the only way to 'nail' the perpetrators of a virus is to either be 'in the know' enough in the hacker community to catch someone bragging about the release (in which case, it's unlikely you'd be there to 'nail' them), or to deconstruct the virus, examine the programming code, and look for the various 'footprints' left behind. An astounding number of virii are either deranged pranks or odd vanity programs - the programmers happily leave their names behind to prove that they were the ones doing it. Others fit certain profiles known to be associated with certain groups.

Unfortunately, it all translates out that there's little chance of recourse for an 'ordinary' user who's been attacked. Prevention is pretty much all you can hope for.

M