No. 19 Sven Jaschan, virus writer

Last year's position: Not placed
Sven Jaschan himself is not an Agenda Setter. His work is done and 2005 is not looking like a year in which he is going to be doing too much of anything - especially if he ends up in prison.
The reason he is on this list is because of what he represents. Standing trial for writing the Sasser worm, he is the first person to be caught as a direct result of Microsoft's virus bounty - the $250,000 sum put on the head of the writers of some of the worst viruses from the past 12 months.
That gesture represented a catalyst for change within the security industry and has doubtless made a lot of writers of malicious code sleep very uneasily.
If Jaschan is convicted and the sentence meted out severe it will prove a milestone in the war on viruses.
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