Sven Jaschan, the German teenager responsible for the Sasser worm, went on trial behind closed doors near the beginning of July. Three days later, he had been sentenced to 30 hours community service, and less than two years probation. His confession and the fact that he was legally a juvenile at the time the worm was released contributed to the light sentence.
The Sasser worm infected thousands of computers in May 2004. Jaschan also authored the Netsky worm. One of Jaschan's viruses, Netsky.P, is still number 4 in F-Secure’s virus statistics, almost 16 months after it was released.
Two people who contacted Microsoft’s Anti-Virus Reward Program to identify Jaschan as Sasser’s creator have received a substantial reward.
Sophos conducted a web poll of more than 550 business PC users and found 78% believed the sentence was too lenient. "With almost 80% of those surveyed saying Jaschan's sentence was too lenient, it seems that many computer users aren't convinced justice has been served," said Carole Theriault, security consultant at Sophos. "Perhaps even more interesting about the Jaschan sentencing is Microsoft splashing out US $250,000 to the two unidentified people who helped track Jaschan down - especially when speculation hints that these people are teenagers who may have had some involvement with Jaschan. It's good to see Microsoft taking strong action against such crimes, but it might struggle if it has to shell out big bucks for every virus writer who gets arrested."
A virus Jaschan wrote, W32/Netsky-P, is still one of the commonest viruses today, 16 months after it was released.
Jaschan now works at a German information security company, which, apparently valuing publicity over reputation, offered him a job after his arrest.
