22 Jan 2003
46% feel virus writer sentence was not harsh enough, reveals Sophos poll
A web poll of more than 600 business PC users, conducted by
Sophos Anti-Virus, has revealed that 46% believe that yesterday's
sentencing of
Simon Vallor, the 22 year old found guilty of writing and
distributing three malicious computer viruses, was not harsh
enough. A further 38% of respondents agreed with Southwark Crown
Court's decision to sentence Vallor to a two year custodial
sentence. Just 16% felt this jail sentence was too severe.
61% of those surveyed believed a prison term was the most
appropriate sentence for anyone who writes and distributes a virus.
14% stated that community service was the most suitable
punishment.
"Businesses seem to have little sympathy for Vallor - indeed,
almost half of the survey respondents indicated that his two year
sentence wasn't tough enough," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant, Sophos Anti-Virus. "This hardline suggests
companies must be completely cheesed off with cybercriminals."
Interestingly, 90% of those surveyed indicated that - if their
PC became infected with a virus - they would be willing to provide
a statement to the police to help convict the virus author.
However, this has not always happened in practice. Although
Vallor's code was estimated to have infected 27,000 PCs, only one
person came forward to make a police statement.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.