Slashdot Mirror


Blaster Writer Caught

Henry V .009 writes "The FBI will be arresting an 18 year-old in connection with MS Blaster, reports The Washington Post." According to the article, the teen was witnessed testing the worm, and then turned in by a bystander. It's also worth noting that this is merely one of the Blaster variations. Hope whoever it was had fun, because a world of pain is waiting in store now.

18 of 1,157 comments (clear)

  1. Re:A witness turned him in?!? by joonasl · · Score: 4, Funny
    How on Earth do you witness somebody writing a virus?

    Maybe they were following the XP-methodology and were pair programming?

    --
    "There is a terrorist behind every bush"
  2. Will be arresting... by earthloop · · Score: 5, Funny

    The FBI will be arresting an 18 year-old

    Coder: Huh? They are coming for me? I'd better get moving before they get here.

    1. Re:Will be arresting... by marko123 · · Score: 4, Funny

      He'll get an extra 20 minutes warning if he is a subscriber. If he gets done 10 minutes after reading about it, I bet he'll wish he did :)

      --
      http://pcblues.com - Digits and Wood
  3. Lucky Bastard by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Lucky the authorities got to him first that is. Well they say there are more virus authors out there. Hopefully all that dental equipment I bought on Ebay will be put to good use.

    --
    "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
    --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
  4. Re:I doubt it. by Goldberg's+Pants · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or SCO will report that he used their proprietary code to do it, ergo everyone infected with the virus will now be sued by SCO for illegally using their code.

  5. Re:A witness turned him in?!? by phagstrom · · Score: 5, Funny

    All virus/worm/trojan writers use MovieOS where stuff like "Assembling Virus" and "Testing Virus" are written to the screen in blinking fonts.

    Didn't you ever see Swordfish? ;-)

  6. Re:If by jheinen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Didn't download the patch huh?

    --
    -Vercingetorix
    "Necessitas non habet legem." -St. Augustine
  7. His defense... by r00zky · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...I got a virus in my computer and... and... it wrote another itself!

    Just remember this

    --
    I'm a chainsmokin' alcoholic sociopath, so-ci-o-path
  8. no imagenation... by schappim · · Score: 4, Funny

    Anyone who's imagenation peaks at nameing one of the most significant viruses of out time as 'MS Blaster' deserves to get caught!

  9. Whoa. Call the NSA. Call the Guiness Book of Rec's by jabbadabbadoo · · Score: 5, Funny

    The worlds most intelligent bystander has just been identified.

  10. Cryptic message by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Researchers also discovered another message hidden inside the infection that appeared (emphasis added) to taunt Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates: "billy gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!"

    Yup, that's cryptic alright. I'll bet the FBI's first question will be to ask what he meant by that.

  11. Re:If by davmoo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, I did. And in fact I did before the virus was even released. Further, I blocked port 135 at my router the day the virus was released. I have never even once had a virus infect any computer I own, even the ones running Microsoft OSes and Outlook/Outlook Express, and I've owned computers since 1980 starting with a TRS-80 Model 1.

    Don't assume that because I think the little shits that write viruses should be held accountable for their actions that I am a newbie, a Microsoft fanboy, or a victim. You would be very wrong on all three counts.

    If I were to remove the driver side window from my car and replace it with a piece of trash bag, making the car obviously insecure to anyone with more than two brain cells, that still does not give someone the right to damage the interior of my car. Likewise, just because Microsoft peddles insecure garbage does not give some little pimple-faced moron with no social life other than his left hand the right to damage someone's computer.

    --
    I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
  12. Re:A witness turned him in?!? by eggplantpasta · · Score: 4, Funny

    You mean this Movie OS?

    --
    "Don't forget the prunes." L. Francis Herreshoff
  13. Re:how odd, not the situation here in UK by SlamMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dude, that was totally incoherent. Go get your coffee, and try again.

    --
    Mod point free since 2001
  14. more news by Molina+the+Bofh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Redmond, VA: The youngster will be charged by two companies with accusations of reverse engineering. Citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Microsoft is accusing him of implementing a piece of code that circunvents patented Microsoft's Windows protection.

    Richard Ludwig, attorney for Microsoft, said "My clients believe that the writer of this virus is actively destroying the value of my client's proprietary technology, and demand that this viral activity cease immediately."

    Mark Scheise, attorney for SCO, said the teenager violated its intellectual property rights by using SCO code in the virus. He said that each bit from its code was a perfect match with SCO's code. "He was using exactly the same two bits as SCO, just in another sequence". Scheise also added that this was not just a coincidence, and denied any request to disclose wich are the two bits. "I can't tell you wich are these two bits, but I assure you they're the same as thos used by SCO".

    --

    -
    Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
  15. interestingly, The Virus had a GPL licence by goombah99 · · Score: 4, Funny
    It turns out the virus had been released under a GPL licence. It was open source. The kid made some changes so he was REQUIRED by the GPL to release them.

    But you are of course obliged to make a good faith efferot test your software and make sure it does not have simple bugs, compiles and runs before you release it. The kid was obviously just releasing his testing his changes prior to releasing the source as he was required to do under the GPL.

    all viruses should be GPL. THen bill gates will really be right.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  16. Re:A witness turned him in?!? by LineNoiz · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...an arrest has not yet been made...

    Well, if he does read /., I'm sure he's busy running a big frickin magnet over his hard drive(s) right about now...

    --
    "Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit." --Oscar Wilde
  17. Re:A witness turned him in?!? by bobKali · · Score: 4, Funny

    I saw Sarah Good writing the virus! I saw Goody Osborne writing the virus!