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| Sven Jaschan was arrested following a
tip-off to Microsoft |
Mystery surrounds the identities of those who directed computer
crime authorities to the home of Sven Jaschan, the suspected author
of the Sasser worm.
Microsoft has revealed that it was contacted by informants who
said they had information regarding the creator of the Sasser
worm.
While Microsoft had not announced any reward for information
about those responsible for writing the Sasser worm, a group of
individuals approached the German office of the software giant on
Wednesday 5 May and inquired about whether a cash award was
available. According to Microsoft spokesman Brad Smith, the group
have been offered $250,000 if Jaschan is successfully
convicted.
"While Sophos welcomes the arrest of any virus writer, there are
key questions to be asked. Who are these people who had information
about Sasser's creator? Why are we not being told how they knew
him? Are they themselves involved in the computer underground?,"
said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "We
believe it is unlikely that one individual was writing and
distributing the Sasser and Netsky worms on his own. Until certain
questions are answered there will be a large question mark hanging
over this case."
Microsoft has issued considerable bounties for information
leading to the successful conviction of virus writes in the past.
In February this year they offered $250,000 for the capture of
the MyDoom worm author, and last year a total of half a million dollars in
regard to the Sobig-F and Blaster worms. However, to date these
rewards have not been paid as no-one has been convicted.
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.
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.