The Philippines has said the US was helping to track down the source of the Love Bug virus that ravaged computers worldwide, and an official said the suspected hacker was a woman.

National police chief Gen Panfilo Lacson told reporters that investigators had identified the suspect but it could take a while to make an arrest because "the suspect is a moving target".

Lacson and other investigators had earlier indicated the suspect was a man but an official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) involved in the search said the bureau was looking for a woman.

The official, who asked not to be identified, also said it was possible the suspect might have already destroyed whatever evidence could link her to the most massive cyber attack yet.

Police said the suspect was a young computer school student and apparently from a middle-class family.

But the official also said it was possible the suspect might not be responsible for the computer attack.

"It was only the computer used to launch the virus that was traced but anybody could use that computer," the official said.

The Washington Post said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had traced the virus to the Philippines through a fairly obvious electronic trail and was ready to seize computers used in the attack once it got permission.

In Sweden, a computer expert said on Saturday he believed an 18-year-old German exchange student in Australia was responsible for the virus.

But the Australian Federal Police said yesterday they had been given no firm evidence to back up the allegation.