Microsoft rewards Sasser informants $250,000
Two people who pointed the finger of blame at Sven Jaschan, the 19-year-old author of the Sasser internet worm, are to be rewarded $250,000 by Microsoft for helping the company and law enforcement track down the creator of one of history’s most disruptive viruses. Announcing the decision on Friday, the software colossus refused to identify the duo, but said “certain individuals” will now share the bounty put up by the company, Interpol, the FBI and the US Secret Service. The couple effectively pinpointed Jaschan as the culprit behind Sasser, forcing him last week to confess in a German court to computer sabotage and the illegal alteration of data. Much to the irritation of IT administrators, he received a suspended sentence of 21 months for creating the malicious programme, with no accompanying fine and 30 hours of community service. A survey last month by computer security firm Sophos found that 66 per cent of people felt that the German teenager, also creator of the prolific Netsky worm, deserved a prison sentence for his actions. But legal experts said because Jaschan was under the age of responsibility at the time of writing the malicious software, he escaped hefty sentencing and won the right to hold his trial behind closed doors, in the town of Verden. Security experts meanwhile expressed their disappointment over the lenient punishment in wake of Sasser’s disruption to the UK Coastguard, several investment banks, the European Commission, British Airways, as well as government departments in Hong Kong and Australia. “Even a year after his arrest, it is more likely that you will be infected by a worm written by Sven Jaschan than any other virus author,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. “Jaschan avoided a jail sentence by the skin of his teeth because he was arrested within days of his 18th birthday. It's a shame that someone with such IT skills should turn to writing computer viruses to increase his self esteem, rather than doing something positive like developing computer games or an innovative website.” Sophos said they hoped the fate of Jaschan, no matter how disappointing to the IT community, would deter other young computer experts from following the same perilous path of virus writing. If not, Nancy Anderson, vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft, declared confidently that the same tools that defeated Jaschan and Sasser would be firmly in place. “It has been important and gratifying to collaborate with and support law enforcement in this case, and we're glad to provide a monetary reward to those individuals who provided credible information that helped the German police authorities solve this case. Microsoft said they were pleased Jaschan admitted his guilt and was being held accountable for his actions. Confirming the $250k (£147,000) on Friday, the technology company hinted it would continue using the “lure of a cash anti-virus reward program”, to prompt those unrelated to the criminal activity to step forward with information. Law enforcement agents at Interpol and the United States Secret Service stamped their seal of approval on the cash-reward programme, saying it lends to speedier apprehensions and prosecutions, while sparing computer users from online havoc. David Gork, director of Specialized Crimes at Interpol, said:” "The Sasser worm is just one example of the speed at which malicious code can spread across borders and how damaging it can be to industry and the public. Law enforcement must continue to work with private industry to solve this type of crime.” The news comes as last week Microsoft’s UK website was hacked by an internet invader using the Web name ‘Apocalypse,’ according to Zone H security. The unidentified hacker has been targeting US government departments and institutions for months, says the cyber firm, who claims he or she always leaves a message of support for the Venezuelan hacker, Rafael Nunez-Aponte, who was arrested in Miami three months ago. Defacing Microsoft’s UK portal with a picture, the site stated on July 6, 2005: ‘Free Rafa – Hack is not a crime.’ Advisories suggest Microsoft’s latest problem could be an admirer or member of the ‘World of Hell’ hacking crew, Nunez-Aponte’s former alleged group, after websites of the US Navy and Stanford University were recently defaced and left displaying similar tributes to the hacker.
Reproduced from an article published by Contractor UK
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