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| Sophos CEO Dr Jan Hruska showing an audience the
impact of Jaschan's worms. |
On the first day of his trial in Verden, Germany, Sven Jaschan
has admitted writing the Sasser worm which infected millions of
computers around the world.
Katharina Kruetzfeldt, a spokesperson for the tribunal, said
that 19-year-old Jaschan confessed during the closed-doors hearing
that he was responsible for unleashing the malicious code that
attacked vulnerable Windows computers in 2004.
"Admitting his involvement was a sensible move by Sven Jaschan,"
said
Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "The court is
likely to respond with a lenient sentence on account of his age at
the time of the offences, and because he has confessed his guilt.
The court will now be interested in hearing evidence as to the
impact of Jaschan's malware."
Sven Jaschan released the Sasser worm at the end of April 2004.
The malicious code spread quickly via the internet without using
email, striking many organisations including the UK coastguard service
and Taiwan's national
post office. Shortly afterwards Jaschan, apparently concerned
about being caught by the authorities, says he emailed his friends
saying that he would stop writing worms, and decided to wipe parts
of his hard disk and encrypt viral source code on his computer.
But the following month, one of Jaschan's schoolfriends revealed the worm author's
identity to Microsoft. The house Jaschan shared with his mother
and stepfather was raided by the
authorities who issued a search warrant. Computer crime
officers searched the house, disconnecting PCs, taking photographs,
and collecting CDs and floppy disks.
Despite Jaschan's arrest, his worms have continued to spread
across the internet.
Sentencing is expected by the end of the week.
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