Posted on 07/31/2004 11:19:31 AM PDT by Stoat
Sasser kid blamed for viral plague By John Leyden
A staggering 70 per cent of viral activity in the first half of this year can be linked to just one German teenager, according to anti-virus firm Sophos.
Sven Jaschan, 18, the self-confessed author of the NetSky and Sasser worms is blamed by Sophos for the vast majority of viral reports it recorded during the first six months of 2004. Just two of Jaschan's viruses - the infamous Sasser worm and NetSky-P - account for almost 50 per cent of all virus activity seen by Sophos up until the end of June. Counting Jaschan's other released variants of the NetSky worm, the total figure comes to over 70 per cent.
Jaschan was arrested at his home in the sleepy village of Waffensen, North Germany in early May following a tip-off from one of erstwhile mates (who have since become suspects themselves) to Microsoft. But for this arrest the situation could have been even worse, according to Sophos. The computer worm he created continues to spread despite the fact that their creator has been taken out of the equation. The Sasser worm hit home computer users worldwide, including the South African government, Taiwan's national post office, Sampo (Finland's third largest bank), RailCorp in Australia and the UK's coastguard service.
"It's like Pandora's box - once released viruses can carry on spreading even if the author has been caught or realises he has done something wrong," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "However, because Jaschan was under 18 at the time he released the viruses it's possible he will escape a stiff sentence if found guilty."
Sophos identified and released protection for 4,677 new viruses in the first six months of 2004, up 21 per cent on the same period last year. "Reassuringly, virus writers haven't had it all their own way so far in 2004. Increased scrutiny from law enforcement agencies and Microsoft's bounty initiative to encourage people to snitch on virus writers and led to Jaschan's high profile arrest in Germany," Cluley added
Thought this was gonna be about Brittany Spears.
get this kid a Kleenex!
Death penalty for the little punk.
And if they don't go to Hell, they have to wait at the vestibule in Heaven one hour for every hour they cause to be wasted getting rid of their viruses....
He should be torn apart and fed to the wolves.
I just spent most of a day trying to remove Sasser infections from my sister's new computer. She had not turned on the MS firewall and logged on to the Internet to get Norton, ironically, and in that brief unprotected moment, her computer virtually filled up with self-replicating virus files (which Norton for some reason was not able to remove completely). In addition, something kept trying to redirect her browser when she entered credit card numbers.
I don't care that he was only 17 - hanging is too good for him.
Some People Just Need Killing™.
He's the Bill Clinton of the computer world.
And I consider myself a moderate on the question.
Worse than that, he's the Saddam Hussein of the computer world.
I had to read for a bit before I realized that this was not some German kid responsible for alot of cases of influenza or the like. I am soooo 20th Century.
Let;s dream up some creative punishments for this cockroach.
I'll go first: Five years of sitting on hold with a phone taped to his head, listening to muzak and polite reminders from a recorded loop.
This kid has a lot of sex!
You are.
Hes a big Michael Moore fan.
Bring this POS PUNK over to Texas!
I have a few dozen ideas for starters:
Starving calf and no pants on this punk.
Fire ant bed w/ a drizzle of sugar water.
Strapped to a tree stump in the rut season w/ doe scent sprayed on his a$$.
I better stop before I get banned...
Realises he has done something wrong... Give me a break!!! This lil POS knew what he was doing.
Where is the anonymous fund that would rid us all of this particular problem and potential progeny forever? I would like to contribute.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.