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| Ruediger Butte, chief of state criminal office in
Hanover, announced the arrest |
Last updated: 13 May 2004
Sven Jaschan, an 18-year-old computer enthusiast, has been
arrested at the house he shares with his parents in the sleepy
village of Waffensen, North Germany. Jaschan was arrested in
connection with writing and distributing the infamous Sasser internet worm, which is estimated to have
attacked tens of millions of PCs across the world.
Sophos's virus experts believe that the gang responsible for
distributing the Sasser worm may also be responsible for the
hard-hitting Netsky worms which have been infecting computer users
for most of the year.
"Since it first emerged a week ago, the Sasser worm has been
bombarding vulnerable computer systems with the most significant
virus attack of 2004," said Graham Cluley, senior technology
consultant for Sophos. "The authorities have moved fast in
arresting this teenage suspect. Seizing this man's computers could
provide the vital clues which may break open the underground
worm-writing network which has been responsible for not only
Sasser, but the Netsky worms too."
Sophos notes that some of the Netsky worms launched
denial-of-service attacks against German and Swiss websites, in an
attempt to knock them off the internet. The Netsky-Z worm, for
instance, instigated attacks against an educational
website based close to Jaschan's home.
Was Sven Jaschan working alone?
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| Sven Jaschan is said to have written computer
worms in the basement of the house he shares with his parents |
"If you scrutinise the most recent Netsky worm, you can see that
the author embedded a taunt to anti-virus companies, bragging that
he also wrote the Sasser worm. If this is the case, this could be
one of the most significant cybercrime arrests of all time,"
continued Cluley. "All these worms have been highly disruptive and
complex, suggesting that the author isn't working alone. Seizing
this man's computers could provide the vital clues which will bring
down the infamous 'Skynet' virus-writing gang. We would not be
surprised if more arrests may follow in due course."
The Skynet virus-writing gang is believed to be named after the
computer system which takes over the world in the Terminator films
starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"I would be very surprised if Sven Jaschan was the only person
involved in the creation of the Netsky and Sasser worms," continued
Cluley. "The email archives and chat logs on his computer will
provide vital leads about others in the computer underground."
"Papa, I've put out a computer worm"
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| Police have arrested 18-year-old Sven Jaschan in
connection with the Sasser worm |
Those who knew and met Jaschan labelled him "a computer freak"
who was enthusiastic about all aspects of information
technology.
"He showed a high level of knowledge in a lot of areas," Juergen
Ahlden, Jaschan's computer teacher said. "But he should have
recognised that what he did went far beyond the boundaries."
In an interview with a media organisation, Sven Jaschan's
stepmother told how she and Jaschan's father had first discovered
the teenager had been writing viruses.
"About four months ago he was over here for a visit and said
'Papa, I've put out a computer worm'," Sabine Jaschan told RTL.
"And then my husband said 'Sven, you didn't do anything stupid, did
you?'. He just kind of laughed nervously."
"I thought he was just fooling around with me. He said he really
wanted to develop an antidote to the virus. He said he didn't want
to cause any damage," said Rainer, Sven Jaschan's father.
Else Bruns, who lives next door to Jaschan, described the
teenager as a loner: "He doesn't mix with people easily and prefers
to spend as much time as he can on his computer."
In the past virus writers such as David L Smith, Simon Vallor and
Christopher Pile have been sentenced to jail for damage caused by
their malicious code. Jaschan, who only turned 18 at the end of
April, is likely to be tried as a juvenile and will probably escape
a prison sentence if convicted.
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