Germans Arrest Teen 'Sasser' Worm Suspect

[Julio Franco]

A German high-school student has confessed to creating the "Sasser" worm that generated chaos across the globe by infecting hundreds of thousands of computers, authorities said Saturday.

The teenager, whose name was not released, was arrested Friday in the northern village of Waffensen, where he lives with his family. In a search of the suspect's home, German investigators confiscated his customized computer, which contained the worm's source code.

Read more: eWeek.

 

[vassil3427]

haha...stupid geek...

 

[acidosmosis]

Thats what you get for trying to show off and make everyone think you are "1337". Some people just need to get rid of their ego and grow up.

 

[EvilKernel]

Who's to blame?

The question you gotta ask yourself is, is he to thank or is he to blame? This is a microsoft vulnerability and all he did ?(if he did so in fact) was expose it. It is only fair that microsoft product's vulnerabilties are exposed, and god knows we must do so in the form of a massive scale worm, I mean, how else? DId you know Microsoft was informed of the Isass vulnerability in October 2003 and they actually released a patch on April of 2004? 6 months after the fact!

Putting this kid in jail is really going to solve the problem. Yeah, this short-sighted approach has worked wonders in the past LOL:grinthumb

 

[Rick]

Re: Who's to blame?

Originally posted by EvilKernel
The question you gotta ask yourself is, is he to thank or is he to blame? This is a microsoft vulnerability and all he did ?(if he did so in fact) was expose it. It is only fair that microsoft product's vulnerabilties are exposed, and god knows we must do so in the form of a massive scale worm, I mean, how else? DId you know Microsoft was informed of the Isass vulnerability in October 2003 and they actually released a patch on April of 2004? 6 months after the fact!

Putting this kid in jail is really going to solve the problem. Yeah, this short-sighted approach has worked wonders in the past LOL:grinthumb

People who take advantage and exploit holes in society (generally) get punished. This should be no exception.

But I certainly think Microsoft should be liable (in some small way, at least) for the damages caused by such vurnerabilities.

Of course, exploitation of things like these usually works in the best interest of future software. So it isn't all bad. And just imagine the revenue generated by this worm! hehe. Big bucks for capatilism. There's a plus to everything I guess.

 

[SaiTokoKeimei]

Hmm. Wow. You people are getting all righteous on him. "Grow up." Bet he's smarter than you, old man. "People that do that should be punished in society." Eh, whatever. Hackers are cool. Think you guys are just acting that way cause he's German. Racist. ^_^ (let me know that you disagree and start ranting)

 

[Malibu Stacey]

Why do the authorities constantly go after the creators of the worm/virus which always "causes havok"? Surely they should be going after the creators of the security holes which allows the infectious code to propagate or the stupid users/sysadmins whom leave known vulnerabilities in their machines so that the code may propagate itself.

I've personally never been infected by anything of the sort because I regularly update my OS with the latest patches and I run the very excellent (and free) AVG Anti-Virus which I have Techspot/3D Spotlight to thank for making me aware that such an excellent program is available free of charge so many moons ago.

Applaud the hackers, they're the digital Robin Hood.

 

[Masque]

Originally posted by SaiTokoKeimei
Hmm. Wow. You people are getting all righteous on him. "Grow up." Bet he's smarter than you, old man. "People that do that should be punished in society." Eh, whatever. Hackers are cool.

Bah! Hackers are kids that can't find anything productive to do with their lives.....generally loners who can't get along with the rest. They commit the crimes and deserve to be punished. Blaming M$ is like blaming the gun manufacturers. The kid pulled the trigger.

Grow up!

 

[BrownPaper]

say no to troll bait.

hackers probably enjoy the havok they cause. just like cheaters on games online, they enjoy messing with the bound rules -- sort of feeling like above the law so to speak.

microsoft looks bad as a result. hehe.

however if criminal organizations exploit vulnerabilities for more sinister opportunities (other than the thrill of causing trouble), a lot of people can get hurt really bad.

 

[Masque]

Originally posted by BrownPaper
say no to troll bait.

Yeah, you're right....and I apoligize to all for perpetuating this mess! Sometimes things just kind of create a bad taste in my mouth though.

Thanks BP.

 

[Godataloss]

Writing viruses and worms is the same kind of senseless vandalism as spray-painting explitives and phalluses on buildings and knocking over tombstones. If destroying things gives you pleasure, you are a ***** or a child or perhaps both. Bad geek, stay in your basement lair and sniff artic silver.

To me a hacker is someone that can use a computer to exploit the system to his OWN ADVANTAGE either politically or economically.

And face it, picking on MS is like shooting fish in a barrel and there would be just as many viruses, worms and trojans (probably more) if everybody used linux instead.

 

[Spike]

There's me thinking that people who maliciously use their computer skills to cause damage or disruption to remote machines and their functions were called "Crackers".

I can see half the point SaiTokoKeimei makes, and I agree with that part of it. Theres a point at which vulnerabilies, and the lack of patching for them, moves away from being a simple case of oversight or mistake, and becomes gross negligence.

Said that, there's no need to wreak havoc with malicious worms, virii, or general cracking to prove the point. I mean, If your going to use a worm, why not create one that pops up an alert box once on someones computer telling them that their operating system is insecure, and to sent the txt file explaining what the problem is to M$, cunningly generated by the worm and placed in a folder. Inconvenience yes. Damaging, no. M$ would soon get sick of it.

I don't agree with worms an virii at all. I'm just saying that they could be less destructive, which proves malicious intent as far as I'm concerned.

The thing with hackers, is that they go where they shouldn't be going. Not to cause damage, but to learn. In doing so, they are probably responsible for the discovery of any number of windows vulnerabilities, and the patching thereof. The latest help and support issue being a case in point. Sometimes they are responsible for telling admins of a problem with their network before a cracker discovers it... etc, etc.

I just think it's a little unfair to tar everyone with the same brush, that's all.