Welsh virus writer faces five years in prison

NEWS A Welsh virus writer is due in court today to be sentenced for creating malware which infected thousands of computers around the world. Simon Vallor, 22, wrote the 'Gokar' and 'Redesi' mass-mailing viruses, which are believed to have infected around 27,000 PCs in up to 42 different countries (see www.silicon.com/a56981 for more). Although the viruses barely made the news at the time, such a level of infection is being taken very seriously by the courts who could hand down a five-year jail-term. Vallor will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court having last year admitted three charges of writing and distributing computer viruses. The authorities first caught up with Vallor after he started boasting of his achievements in an internet chatroom. The fool. Vallor was also charged with possession of child pornography, although these charges have been dropped.