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Maker of Kournikova Gets Wrist Slapped Too

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the no-surprise-here dept.

shelflife writes: "This story says 'It is the first time in history that the maker of a computer virus has been tried in the Netherlands -- indeed one of the few times it has been done in the world. Hypponen knows only of one conviction. A man was sentenced to 18 months in jail in the U.K. in the early 1990s. The man served 11 months, said Hypponen.' but that can't be true. What about Robert Morris? Anyway, the requested sentence is amazingly light -- 240 hours of civil service." The really interesting part is that this kid wasn't even a programmer. He just downloaded a kit. Shows how far this Virus Craze has gone in the last few years.

4 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Couldn't do it alone... by Ed+Avis · · Score: 3, Troll

    Will the makers of Outlook go to court for actively helping the spread of the worm by deliberately insecure handling of attachments?

    --
    -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
  2. Reasoning... by Telek · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The really interesting part is that this kid wasn't even a programmer. He just downloaded a kit.

    and

    The defendant, Jan de Wit, turned himself in to the police in his hometown Sneek, Netherlands, on Feb. 14.

    I would venture a guess to say that those are the reasons why he was given such a light sentance, and the fact that he was 20 years old. A little remorse goes a long way in the courts, and turning yourself in too usually helps to give a lighter sentance.

    --

    If God gave us curiosity
  3. D'oh by zpengo · · Score: 4, Offtopic

    And here I was seeing "Kournikova" and "slapped" and thinking this article was going to be much more interesting (and perhaps have some pics!)

    --


    Got Rhinos?
  4. That seems like a reasonable sentence by iabervon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's a light sentence, as sentences go, but it makes the whole process, from putting it together to serving the sentence, more trouble than it's worth in entertainment.

    The reason lame modern viruses get written is that it's really easy; you put in very little time, and then get to hear reports about how it spreads: very little effort, a little entertainment. If he'd known that it would take 250 hours of work, he probably wouldn't have bothered.

    The same goes for hacking websites: people do it because it doesn't take any real effort. If it took 250 hours of boring work that you can't automate, people wouldn't bother.