A 19 year-old German, Sven Jaschan, has confessed to writing the Sasser worm that affected millions of computers last year.
Mr. Jaschan faces a more lenient sentence on charges including sabotage, data manipulation, and other related crimes due to his status as a minor when he unleashed the Sasser worm.
The defendant’s prowess with worm and virus writing has gained him employment with Securepoint, a German security software firm. And, regardless of the trial’s outcome, they plan to keep him in their employ.
“The court must hand down a sentence that can have an educational effect on the young man,” Katharina Kruetzfeldt , a spokesperson for the tribunal hearing the case in Verden, Germany.
Sasser began hitting machines equipped with versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system on May 1, 2004. Microsoft subsequently offered a reward of $250,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of Sasser’s writer.
An anonymous acquaintance of Mr. Jaschan’s provided a tip to authorities. It is unknown if Microsoft has paid the reward or if they know the identity of the tipster. A raid on the Jaschan household came as a result, with investigators finding Sasser code on a home-built computer. Mr. Jaschan admitted his involvement then during questioning.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
