Reports in the Hindustan Times suggest that around 50 teenagers - who have all signed the Official Secrets Act and are therefore sworn to secrecy - are working as white hat hackers in the basement of the Security Services building by the River Thames in London to combat cyberterrorism.

The Sunday Express, which broke the story in later editions at the weekend, meanwhile, claimed the teenage hackers have been briefed personally by Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5.

Evans reportedly told his new hacker recruits that they are essential to combat cyberterrorism and has signed them up to projects as diverse as tracing unusual multi-hop IP sessions across the internet, to monitoring messages intercepted from suspected terrorists in London's Belmarsh maximum security prison.

In a report to Lord West, the UK Security Minister, Evans revealed that during the summer over 1000 hits were made on computers in Whitehall. Other targets have included air traffic control, power stations and the city of London.

According to Indian newswire reports - apparently quoting relatives of the teenage hackers in London - Evans sent a confidential memo to some 300 banks and accounting firms warning they "are already under cyber attack" from Chinese state organisations.

Infosecurity notes that the teenage hackers have been subjected to the same high level of background security checks used to clear other intelligence staff.

Lord West called them "youngsters who use their talents to stop other hackers from closing down this country".