|
| The youth was sentenced to three year's
probation. |
A youth was sentenced on Friday 11 February to three year's
probation by a US district court in connection with a computer worm
that attacked Microsoft's website.
According to a report in the Seattle Times, the juvenile was only 14 years
old when they released the RPCSDBOT worm (also known as W32/RpcSpybot-A) in
August 2003, directing infected Windows computers to launch an
attack against Microsoft's main website.
The attack against Microsoft's website occurred at the same time
as versions of the widespread Blaster worm were also bombarding
Microsoft with internet traffic designed to clog it up and make it
unusable. Initially, investigators thought the incidents might be
related, but it was found that this was not the case. The youth was
arrested in late
September 2003.
In court, the defendant said "Seventeen months ago, I made the
worst mistake I ever made in my life. I did it out of curiosity and
did not think I would cause any damage. I am sorry I created
problems for people I did not even know."
Judge Robert Lasnik accepted the juvenile's apology, and
sentenced the teenager to three years of probation. They must also
undergo mental health counseling and are required to perform 300
hours of community service. Every six months the youth is required
to write to the judge describing their community service activities
and how they have been affected by the experience.
"Young people need to learn that the internet is not a
playground where any behaviour is acceptable," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "Computer-literate teens need to
realise that releasing malicious code onto the internet can affect
innocent people around the world, and can lead to them ending up in
court. Kids who are keen on computers should put their knowledge
and enthusiasm into more positive activities."
Prosecutors at the US Attorney's office said that federal law
prevents them from releasing more details about the juvenile,
including their gender.
In January, the teenager who released the Blaster-B worm onto
the internet was sentenced to 18 months in
prison by a US court.
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.