Creator of Sasser Worm Goes on Trial

Cobb writes "Creator of the Sasser worm Sven Jaschan begins his trial today in Verden, Germany. Arrested in May 2004, Jaschan faces charges for his crimes as a juvenile. A reward from Microsoft partially led to the capture of the virus creator. From the article: 'The charges, which also include disrupting public services and illegally altering data, carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, court spokeswoman Katharina Kruetzfeld said that, as a minor, he faces a lesser penalty.'"

Comments

Re:I don't get it

[Stephan Schulz]

Mandatory prison time sounds like a knee-jerk reaction of people who don't understand the hacker mentality.

There is no mandatory prison time. The maximum sentence for adult offenders for these crime is 5 years.

Moreover, he is tried as a juvenile. In Germany, you are invariably tried as a juvenile up to 18 years of age, and more typically up to 21 years if the court determines that "your character is not completely formed". Sentences in a German juvenile court are not primarily for punishment, but to provide guidance and education. Very few juvenile offenders go to prison (and if yes, none goes to an adult prison). Typical sentences include mandatory social work or weekend arrests.

Finally, first time offenders always get much lower sentences, and prison sentences up to a year are nearly always suspended (for first-time offenders with reasonably behaviour and prognosis, so are some longer sentences).

So his risks of actually spending time in prison are rather low.

The Logic of Executing WormWriters

[Aeron65432]

Maybe he shouldn't get let off so easily. Here Steven Landsburg, a PhD in Economics, explains the economic logic behind executing worm-creators