posted 07-09-2005 09:46 PM                    

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Sasser author gets suspended term
Friday, July 8, 2005; Posted: 9:19 a.m. EDT (13:19 GMT)

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A German court has convicted the teenager who created the Sasser worm that snarled tens of thousands of computers last year and sentenced him to 21 months' probation.

Sven Jaschan, 19, from the northwest town of Waffensen, could have faced five years in prison as an adult but was tried as a minor because the court determined he created the virus when he was 17, said Katharina Kreutzfeldt, spokeswoman for the Verden State Court outside Bremen.

As part of the sentence, Jaschan will have to perform 30 hours of community work, either at a hospital or a retirement home, Kreutzfeldt said.

Prosecutors say Jaschan sent the computer worm on the Internet on his 18th birthday, April 29, 2004.

It was blamed for shutting down British Airways flight check-ins, hospitals and government offices in Hong Kong, part of Australia's rail network, Finnish banks, British Coast Guard stations, and millions of other computers worldwide.

The court said it was impossible to estimate the amount of damage. So far, no international civil suits have yet been filed, officials said.

Four German lawsuits were settled for under €1,000 each, said Arend Bosse, spokesman for the Rotenburg-Wuemme State Court.

Jaschan was caught last year after a tipster cashed in on a $250,000 reward offered by Microsoft, whose Windows system was prey to the virus.

Microsoft says the virus was part of a growing problem: hackers profiting from Windows vulnerabilities revealed by patches. The virus appeared 18 days after the company posted a patch to fix a flaw, and it attacked computers that hadn't downloaded the patch.

Jaschan, who reportedly spent up to 10 hours a day on his homemade computer, told Stern Magazine in an interview that he created the virus, which he called "Netzsky A," to combat two existing viruses, Mydoom and Bagle. Computer experts named Jaschan's virus "Sasser."

Jaschan, meanwhile, has taken a job at a computer company that creates anti-virus programs. After three years, Jaschan's conviction will be erased from public record if there are no new offenses, Kreutzfeldt said.

Authorities who questioned Jaschan said they believed his motive was to become a famous programmer. He was arrested at his computer at his the home of his mother, who runs a computer store.

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posted 07-10-2005 12:24 PM                    

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It was blamed for shutting down British Airways flight check-ins, hospitals and government offices in Hong Kong, part of Australia's rail network, Finnish banks, British Coast Guard stations, and millions of other computers worldwide.

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I just wanted to repeat that part of the news story.

Computers are controlling lots and lots of different systems where people's lives can be affected. Computers are controlling police dispatch systems, traffic control systems, medical dispatch, triage and other patient details. If a worm adversely affects those systems it could literally get someone killed.


And then you have the simple fact many small businesses rely on computers more than ever before to manage payroll, bill paying, organizing sales leads and more. If a piece of malware toasts a small business' main computer (likely to be a WindowsPC) it could put that business in some trouble. If the business was already struggling, such an event could be enough to finish off the business.

These are reasons why computer based crime needs to be punished much more severely. They need to be jammed with a 1st degree, federal level penalty that stays on their record permanently. These turds need to have the same hell visited on them that happens to any dumbass who robs a 7-Eleven. Such a felony conviction would automatically disqualify the convict from being able to get dozens of kinds of jobs. Offenders should be liable to extremely severe civil prosecution.

Many computer users may be dumb and reckless with their useage habits. But that removes absolutely no blame at all from the criminals who unleash malware online. It's basically the same logic behind punishing rape. It doesn't matter if some lady walks past you wearing nothing but a G-string and high heels. If she says "no" and you jump her anyway you committed rape and you need to be put away forever.

posted 07-10-2005 01:09 PM                    

quote: Bobby Henderson

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The teenaged author of the Sasser worm got a slap on the wrist. And then he'll probably get a good paying job as a programmer after that. The folks running legal systems and law enforcement agencies around the world just don't get it. Crime is still crime even if it happens in the digital domain.

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posted 07-10-2005 01:59 PM                      

quote: Dominic Espinosa

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Moreover, it's not really even his fault that his worm caused so many problems.

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posted 07-10-2005 02:05 PM                    

quote: Dominic Espinosa

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Moreover, it's not really even his fault that his worm caused so many problems.

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posted 07-10-2005 02:09 PM                       

quote: Dominic Espinosa

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Moreover, it's not really even his fault that his worm caused so many problems.

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