By Will Sturgeon, 5 July 2005 16:25
NEWS Sven Jaschan, the German teenager accused of writing the Sasser virus, is standing trial today, a year after he was arrested and admitted to writing the damaging worm which caused havoc for many businesses and individuals in early 2004.
It is being reported that Jaschan is now once again pleading guilty to all the charges as they are presented to the court.
Because Jaschan was 17-years-old when arrested he will be tried as a minor behind closed doors at a courtroom in Verden, Germany.
Dave Rand, chief technologist of internet content security at Trend Micro, told silicon.com it's "wonderful to see legal process is working" and expressed hope the case against Jaschan is the first of many against other cyber criminals.
However, he said one of the biggest stumbling blocks to such cases is quantifying the damage done in a way that a court can understand and appreciate.
"There have been huge estimates as to the costs related to Sasser but the real damage was in the clean up. It took out email and it took out infrastructure but the actual damage is impossible to quantify - but it was huge," said Rand.
However, Rand added that those who have their hearts set on more arrests and subsequent prosecutions shouldn't lose sight of the fact the circumstances leading up to Jaschan's arrest were more of a tribute to the power of money - in the shape of Microsoft's virus bounty - than effective law enforcement and investigation.
Rand also had strong criticism for Jaschan's current employer, German security company Securepoint, who offered the teenager a job in the wake of his arrest.
"I think that's a dreadful idea," he said. "If somebody has a background in malicious code how can he ever be trusted to protect other people's computers?"
silicon.com will bring you the result of the trial as soon as it is known.
Comments
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1. Byron Sonne
Quote ""I think that's a dreadful idea," he said. "If somebody has a background in malicious code how can he ever be trusted to protect other people's computers?""
Get stuffed, buddy. The people best equipped to help you protect yourself are usually the people best equipped to hurt you. Read some history.
Besides, it's a good idea giving the guy a job. He's probably quite talented and now he has a job and some money, and doesn't need to go wreak havoc in his spare time. Perhaps gainful employment will turn him into a more respectable member of society?
But of course saying such reasonable things wouldn't let Trend Micro get a quote in the papers.
2. Fed-up with time-wasters.
Send him to jail. It wasn't fun, it wasn't funny and it was criminal damage.
Let's see if he REALLY wants attention - when he gets it from hairy smelly lifers in the showers.