Worm Creator
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By IMKE ZIMMERMANN, Associated Press Writer
German Court Convicts Sasser Worm Creator
VERDEN, Germany - The teenager who created the "Sasser" computer worm that created havoc as it raced around the world last year was convicted Friday on charges including computer sabotage and given a suspended sentence, a court official said.
Sven Jaschan, 19, was found guilty of computer sabotage and illegally altering data, said Katharina Kruetzfeld, a spokeswoman for the court in the northwestern town of Verden. He was given a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.
Jaschan also must perform 30 hours of community service at a hospital or home for the elderly, but will not have to pay court costs.
Jaschan admitted to creating the worm at the beginning of his trial Tuesday — reiterating a confession to authorities at the time of his arrest in May 2004.
Sasser exploited a flaw in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems. It caused infected computers to crash and reboot, making it impossible to work on them. The worm snarled hundreds of thousands of computers and caused Internet traffic to slow. German prosecutors estimate that damages ran into the millions of dollars.
Following the conviction, Microsoft said two people who had helped identify Jaschan would share a $250,000 reward.
Jaschan was arrested at his family's home after Microsoft received a tip from an informant seeking a reward, though prosecutors later said the informant was among five people under investigation as possible accomplices. Microsoft did not identify the reward recipients or say whether they were among the five or included the original informant.
Authorities who questioned Jaschan said they got the impression his motive was to gain fame as a programmer. He was arrested sitting at his computer at the house of his mother, who runs a computer store in the small northern town of Waffensen.
The teenager has told officials his original intention was to create a virus, "Netsky A," that would combat the "Mydoom" and "Bagle" viruses, removing them from infected computers. That led him to develop the Netsky virus further — and to modify it to create Sasser.
The court, which tried Jaschan behind closed doors because he was a minor at the time of the offense, said in its ruling that he "acted out of a need for recognition" and not for commercial aims.
Prosecutors had sought a two-year suspended sentence and 200 hours of community work, while the defense sought a one-year sentence. Both sides accepted Friday's verdict.
Defense lawyer Jens Moewe said Jaschan was relieved the trial was over.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for London technology consulting group Sophos PLC, said the court likely was more lenient because of Jaschan's age.
"Sven Jaschan avoided a jail sentence by the skin of his teeth because he was arrested within days of his 18th birthday," Cluley said. "In many ways, Sven Jaschan was lucky that the police caught him when they did."
Virus writers have had sentences reduced before because of their age, though an American teenager who created a version of the 2003 "Blaster" worm was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said she sentenced Jeffrey Lee Parson, 19, of Hopkins, Minn., at the low end of the agreed-upon range because although he was 18 at the time of the attack his maturity level was much younger than that. Parson had faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. -
in d end he gets a USD1M/yr job
at some internet security consulting firm
just like tsutomu, one time master hacker
hacking, creating worms, viruses n d like
has proven itself, time n time again
to be the most rewarding crime..
now...anyone want to teach me how to make a worm?
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Wah lao.
The irony of life. -
either that or they'll sentence him to a life without access to anything more than a basic mobile phone...
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with wap?Originally posted by the Bear:either that or they'll sentence him to a life without access to anything more than a basic mobile phone... -
may even forbid him from that too!
he gets his hands on one, he gets thrown in gaol again
Originally posted by LeftBallBigger:with wap? -
kana betrayed by his "friend". poor arse.
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So, this was the guy who caused my old PC to malfunction to the point of no redemption!!
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It pays to be baddie
...... 
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it is easier for us to be a worm then make one.Originally posted by LeftBallBigger:in d end he gets a USD1M/yr job
at some internet security consulting firm
just like tsutomu, one time master hacker
hacking, creating worms, viruses n d like
has proven itself, time n time again
to be the most rewarding crime..
now...anyone want to teach me how to make a worm? -
FYI, the majority of hackers who got caught end up leading normal lives. Many hackers eventually grew out of it.Originally posted by LeftBallBigger:in d end he gets a USD1M/yr job
at some internet security consulting firm
just like tsutomu, one time master hacker
hacking, creating worms, viruses n d like
has proven itself, time n time again
to be the most rewarding crime..
now...anyone want to teach me how to make a worm?
Btw, no virus writer has ever gotten rich working in a security firm. And besides, no company wants to deal with the ignominy of hiring a known virus writer and this is compelling reason to make all their customers disappear overnight.
You obviously do not know fact from fiction. Tsutomu is not a black hat in any sense of the word. Tsutomu is a highly respected senior fellow at the San Diego Supercomputer Center and had worked with law agencies and Nobel laureates.
There are black hats and white hats in the hacking circle. Don't confuse one with the other and don't pretend to act knowledgeable and say stuff when you really don't have any clue what you're talking about.
Sorry to use such strong words but I detest seeing uninformed people talking crap and maligning good, honest, hardworking people.