I hear tell the powers that be have got the 'Cuffs' on some young Deutche dork for knocking up and distributing the Sasser doodoo. So where's the rope and truck??.....You just can't beat setting a good example as a deterrent.... Cochise, Edited the italic word to conform with TOS - Detox
It'll be interesting to see what comes of that -- the Reuters story over at Yahoo this morning said that while his version of Sassers (the original) was "amateurish", he's almost certainly tied in relatively closely to that gang of virus writers (I forget its name), and the German prosecutor says probably his only chance of saving his butt is to name names and otherwise assist in the broader manhunt. I was more than a little suprised to hear that while his machines were (naturally) seized for expert analysis, he himself is not in custody. My understanding (and of course I might be wrong, wouldn't be the first time) is that most western European countries are much tougher with internet-related offenses than here in North American.
article in our local news Sasser Worm Suspect Arrested 09/05/2004 07:19 AM Stephane Nitschke and Stefan Braun A tip from reward-seekers and information from Microsoft led to the arrest of an 18-year-old suspected of creating the "Sasser" computer worm, German police and the software giant say. Spokesman Frank Federau for Lower Saxony police said police were certain they had the man behind one of the Internet's most costly outbreaks of sabotage. "We are absolutely certain that this really is the creator of the Internet worm because Microsoft experts were involved in the inquiry and confirmed our suspicions and because the suspect admitted to it," he said in an interview with Reuters Television on Saturday. It was the lure of cash that proved the man's undoing. A group of individuals from Lower Saxony approached Microsoft on Wednesday inquiring about reward money should they turn in the man. The US software giant in the past has put bounties of up to US$250,000 on the heads of other notorious virus writers. Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith told reporters the company agreed to pay the informants if there is a conviction. "They did not stumble upon him through technical analysis. They were aware of who he was," Smith said, declining to elaborate on their relationship to the suspect and saying only the number of informants was less than five. The economic toll of Sasser may never be known, but it claimed some big scalps, including Germany's Deutsche Post, Britain's coastguard stations and investment bank Goldman Sachs. "Computer Freak" Federau said the man, who he described as a highly intelligent "computer freak" living with his parents, was arrested on Friday near the central German town of Rotenburg but was no longer in custody. Authorities and Microsoft said they suspect the man created all the versions of Sasser, adding he worked alone. He is also believed to be a main person, if not the mastermind, behind the Netsky viruses that have been plaguing Internet users since February, Smith said. All the man's computers were confiscated by police, Federau said. Since appearing one week ago, Sasser has wreaked havoc on personal computers running on the ubiquitous Microsoft Windows 2000, NT and XP operating systems, but is expected to slow down as computer users download anti-virus patches. The computing underground responsible for hatching worms and viruses has proved a difficult ring to crack for law enforcement and security experts were surprised at the rapid arrest.
on BBC: Teen 'confesses' to Sasser worm Experts say it apparently does no lasting harm. But although the worst of the outbreak is over, it is thought the worm will never entirely disappear, and that future versions may be far more damaging. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3695857.stm
Well, from what I've seen in the past regarding here in the UK, these 'Dorks' (Sorry Detox) are usually looked on as misguided little pranksters who actually meant no harm and really didn't realise exactly what harm they had caused.....so with that excuse in mind and being the kind, gentle and forgiving person that I'am I just say "Get the rope and the truck and take the little 'Dork' for a ride".... Cochoise,
and I'll rig the Brakes ... LOL (plus) rig the gas pedal down ... we'll do it out in the countryside ... just so there's no more victims
As an alternative to taking this virus writer for a ride, I think he should be thrown in a max-security prison for 20 years in the caring company of Big Bubba. I assure you, bubba would take excellent care of this little twerp. I have a relative in the hospital and I would be very, very ticked off if my relative were to suffer complications just because some worm got into the hospital's computers and messed them up. We really need to tighten up the laws and force these virus writers to do HARD time IN THE GENERAL POPULATION. Five years is not enough time. They should slam that kid with a twenty year term with bubba, with no early-release. These dumb low-lifes need to be taught a lesson and made an example of. It took me 2 long, anguished weeks to clean that damn Sasser out of my computer! I am sick and tired of seeing these virus writers get a nice little slap on their wrist! We need to CRACK DOWN HARSHLY on these offenders! This virus crap is costing our commercial enterprises millions, if not billions, of precious dollars each year, money that could be spent on other, more worthwhile projects.
There is a good thread ongoing on the usenet about this topic in the alt.comp.virus group. Look in the "gigabyte arrested" thread. Given the world depends more and more on computers in our daily life, I agree with antivirus_Ben.
These virus writers are the same as mosquitoes, which are dirty pests. I wish that guy who made the netsky and sasser viruses would be put in jail for 20 years to the maximum.
