Suspected 'Sasser' creator arrested in Germany

MSNBC ^ | Updated: 5:43 a.m. ET May 08, 2004 | AP Staff

[savedbygrace]

Good tip.

[Radioactive]

And I'm for the public execution of the company GATOR and all of its trojan BS software that downloads and slows down computers everywhere.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Give him ten years in a cell with a computer that locks up every five minutes.

[FreedomPoster]

That works for me. There are at least 2-3 others in that class, who should be included in the party.

[stripes1776]

The problem of computer viruses does not lie with high school students like this one or any one else who writes viruses. What if we lived in a world in which there were no locks on the doors of our houses?

When it comes to computers, we live in that land. None of the popular operating systems was designed from the ground up for security. Security came as an after thought. It was applied piecemeal as problems developed. Computer security resembles a patchwork of bandaids applied in the dark.

So tonight when you go to bed, don't lock the front door but instead put a bandaid across it and see how secure you feel. Rather than direct moral outrage at some high school kid who knows a lot about programming, turn that concern to vendors of operating systems like Microsoft, IBM, Sun, Red Hat and the others. Computers won't be secure until the vendors give us secure operating systems.

I won't hold my breath.

[paleocon patriarch]

Truth is that this kid did the millions of users who ignore patches and let their firewalls down a big favor by releasing a fairly benign worn instead of the monster that could have exploited the LSASS flaw. I bet the next LSASS worm is a real nasty one.

I got caught with a new logon script that had it's firewall down - live and learn.

[Southack]

"These kids have the same mindset as vandals. They derive pleasure from breaking stuff and causing inconvenience to people. Instead of busting up subway cars, bus shelters and school property they do it in cyberspace."

No, they have the same mindset as enemy sabotuers and spies. They are intentionally attacking and destroying systems, even life-saving hospital computers.

Taggers/vandals, on the other hand, simply mark territory in most cases, or trash remote, low-value property in other times.

The good that they do, however, is that they have us armoring our electronic systems even during peacetime (or at least far from the front). If the sabotuers weren't always hitting us, then we would be ripe for a Sum of All Fears sort of enemy attack.

That being said, the kid should have his choice of either being locked up for life or else blinded and released.

[freedumb2003]

That being said, the kid should have his choice of either being locked up for life or else blinded and released

LOL! A little Biblical punishment, eh?

[Elvis van Foster]

No, I blame the high school kid. Make a highly publicized example. Some have suggested amputation. I prefer induced full quadripeligia.

[Not A Snowbird]

Give him ten years in a cell with a computer that locks up every five minutes.

Only five years if you put him in a cell with my Gateway.

[brityank]

The problem of computer viruses does not lie with high school students like this one or any one else who writes viruses. What if we lived in a world in which there were no locks on the doors of our houses? -- stripes 1776

Truth is that this kid did the millions of users who ignore patches and let their firewalls down a big favor ... -- paleocon patriarch

To be honest, neither door makers nor auto makers had locks when they first came out; the owners either added them, as we do now with OS's, or they learned not to put them where folks could rip them off. Everyone seems to like the pie-in-the-sky dream that your house/car/grocery/airflight will all be done by computer without any work or intervention, and to a certain extent some of that will and is happening. But then you also have the script-kiddies/Echelon type that will take advantage. I can live with the script-kiddies; the fear I have is some moronic government entity mandating a simplistic but very expensive cure-all. After all, look at the wonders they've accomplished with Health Care.

That day is getting closer.

[Reeses]

Investigators found him via a tip from Microsoft, which has more intelligence gathering ability than the CIA. Do not cross Microsoft. If you use Windows, they can find you.

I wonder if I used Microsoft Flight Simulator to repeatedly crash a 747 airliner into a nuclear power plant, in the privacy of my home, would I end up on the terrorist watch list?

Some things should be left to wonder. I don't plan on finding out.

[longjack]

I just read a report on n-tv.de that said the Sasser kid wrote 28 variants of the netsky worm.

Microsoft will pay $ 250,000 bounty to the people involved in his arrest after a conviction. Less than 5 people were involved in discovering who he was. Another article said police and intelligence services were involved.

Germany now has some people who wrote the Phatboy worm, too, says the article.

The sasser kid's mother ran a computer emergency repair business. Maybe he was trying to drum up customers.

longjack

[Reeses]

That reminds me of an auto glass repair business I heard of. They papered a neighborhood with flyers about same day repair just before New Years Eve. Then they went out smashing windows.

[RJS1950]

Make that public neutering and I will go along with you.

[meatloaf]

Do they have any empty cells left in that Iraqi prison? Maybe he'll live to see his photo all over the internet.

[Revolting cat!]

Let's hope the Germans have a better sense than the Americans who, immediately after a plea bargained jaywalking ticket, would offer the perp a 6 figure position securing the network at a major corporation.

[VOA]

bump for publicity.
This topic (Sasser and it's young creator) got lots of coverage on the computer shows
on talk radio here in Los Angeles today.

[VOA]

That's actually pretty fast to find the worm writer. I wonder what tipped them off.

The story is that the little b@$tard got a case of "loose lips sink ships".
Yep, he bragged about it to some buddies and I guess they helped in the perp
being picked up.
Plus, Bill Gates and Co. suppossedly helped the authorities with the effort.

I think I heard the authorities knew the kids were on-target when they
found the Sasser source code on the perp's computer.

Hang 'Em High!

[Pharmboy]

Solitary confinement for the little sumb*tch for 2 years...the virus and worm makers need to know there will be very severe consequences.