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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.'"
He only wanted to write a piece of code and see how far it would spread. Mandatory prison time sounds like a knee-jerk reaction of people who don't understand the hacker mentality.
I wish I could put a bounty on people who made me look stupid.
Interesting conundrum for the legal system - do you let him off easy and give him a job at a security company - or hit him hard, and ruin a promising (although mischevious) programmer?
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
chown -r us:us /home/you/base
Guess that means execution is out.
Damn shame.
DeviantArt Page
NSFWHope so
They evidently saw his skills in identifying and essentially publicising weaknesses in the operating system in a positive light.
Perhaps he ought to be congratulated to some extent for this - Windows is now (barely) more secure.
This, along with prosecution of spammers, is a good start to reducing annoying aspects of the internet, but how far will this go to prevent others from replacing convicted pests?
Is there a way to tackle the problem "from the source" that would prevent would be spammers and virus creators from WANTING to do these things?
I think if enough offenders are prosecuted, and prosecuted severely enough, there is the potential to ward off others from commiting the same acts. However, if only a few, say 1 in 20 or less, virus creators/spammers/etc are caught, I don't think there will be enough push to stop others from taking their place.
Just like anything else in the world, if there is a low risk of punishment and a good chance of some sort of reward (monetary, pride, whatever) for some act, then someone will commit that act.
It'd be nice if his punishment was to do the work of all the IT personnell who had to clean up after his mess. I'd love to sit at home and relax while that little dweeb does my job. I'd be the one getting paid of course.
Don't tell me everyone has a hangover after July 4th, what about people in countries where it doesn't get celebrated.
Usually I get more from reading the comments than I do from reading the articles.
I can't believe I'm going to get first post, on Slashdot no less.
Domino Harvey lives on in Microsoft.
What he has done is ultimately a favor to microsoft.
He has demonstrated to them the importance of security, and demonstrated to end users the importance of patch management by exposing this vulnerability.
If he did not do it, someone else would have. We are just lucky Sasser was noisy and identifyable. A subtle worm which requires Tripwire to detect which spread on the same scale would be a disaster indeed!
Because of the profile in this case, I have to say toss the book at him. This will not scare the real hacker, but this will have a chilling effect on the casual script kiddies, and that is where the majority of worm/virus/junkware comed from.
But is he allowed to use a touch-tone phone?
Steven Wooston, Lead Programmer, J-J-J-Julius Games
Author of a CONSIDERABLE number of best-selling games
I, for one, find no need in this world for worm writers, virus writers, phishers, Nigerian scammers, adware/spyware secret installers, keyboard loggers, and the rest of the trash that pollutes the otherwise exceptionally useful and wonderful Internet. Locking them away, and away from computers, for the rest of either their lives or my own -- which ever is shorter -- wouldn't bother me a bit.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Let's see him worm his way out of this!
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
Sorry, fry the kid. Use this as YET ANOTHER wake up call that your computer is NOT a VCR. If parents cannot keep tabs on their kids computer use then they should take away the computer. If the parents cannot understand how to do this, then maybe they shouldn't have a computer till they learn. Responsibility is with the individual and/or mentors.
anyone who is dumb enough to brag about writing a virus to his "friends" is dumb enough to be caught and should face the penalties.
Actually it's MicroSoft that should be sued for making so insecure and virus-prone software (one virus disrupted thousands of computers, it was too easy to spread), with Sasser's author being just an expert called by the prosecutor.
I do have to say that just because M$ is a security hole doesn't mean that exploiting it in a milicious was is right, or even justified. There are correct ways to report the vulnerabilities, and those are the paths that this person should have taken.
Think of it this way, if you have a kid that is playing in a playground, and you look away for a minute or two, is it right/justified for a kidnapper to take your kid? Sure, it was your fault that you were not looking, but does that mean that since there was an opening to take your kid, someone is justified in taking your kid?
Sure, would-be kidnapper may come up to you and say "hey man/lady, your kid isn't being watched and could be taken easily". Even if the parent STILL keep an eye on their kid, does that make it right for the kidnapper to THEN take your kid just to proove a point and to let other know you were not looking?
This hacker deserves to be put in prision, they need to send a message saying that making virus's isn't right and it will not be tolerated.
That is a little like - "I was only curious about how much money was in the register, and how far I could run with it until I got caught".
Pfft. Tell that to Wynona .
if found convicted, they should go to guantanamo bay's prison camp or abu ghirab. kevin mitnick would of cracked, a lot of these warez punks would be walking around, holding some big black dude name tiny's inside out pocket, and the sasser virus writer would have urine and/or feces tossed on himself.
Sentence the kid to a computer science school.
These kids hack, because they are at the age of destructiveness. They don't have the vision and maturity to reach the creativity stage, because they have no role models to do so. This kid's skills are good enough to make him a skilled security professional, and he didn't know enough to hand Sasser over to a Secunia and make himself well known in the process and probably have job offers. I'd like to hear his rationale for releasing it into the wild before deciding on how to treat him, butmost of these kids do it for the kicks and respect of disfunctional peer groups (i.e. other hacking clans). Need to show them a better way.
Worms are a two-sided problem. In order for them to happen, it takes a software writer (far too often that software writer being named "Microsoft"...) to create software that has a ready-to-exploit flaw in it, and then it just takes one evil-minded programmer to kick a worm through that hole and make a mess that makes all of us wearing white hats have to do some serious cleanup and deal with downtimes .
While I'm glad the kid is going to get taken to justice, I'm still a little troubled by the fact that all Microsoft did for their part of it was to release a "you shoulda run Windows Update" patch and kicking in a quarter-million US dollar reward... both of which they're doing out of the kindness of Bill Gates' heart because there's no law requiring either of them.
I know small time programmers need liability protection from the abuse of their software... but shouldn't a large company like Microsoft be liable for the cleanup costs associated with their own security bugs?
I think if a kid is capable of commiting a crime knowingly, then he should face the same punishment as an adult.
I think a lot of kids commit crimes with the "knowledge" that if they get caught, it would be a slap on the wrist and go away when they turn 18.
Where are the charges against the company who designed such a flawed operating system that would allow this exploit? NASA is investigated and while it is true that human life deserves the utmost attention, where is the committee examining why one single company and its OS have been responsible for such global meltdowns?
It is a crime to intentionally create malware causing harm to a system that was negligently and intentionally designed to be exploitable. This whole thing simply seems like another example of "the man" having power to be right and the little guy having nothing in response....
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
Why the **** is this on YRO??? What right is being compromised here? A kid's right to write worms and trojans that cost the public millions of dollars???
the hacker mentality is "don't harm anybody".
this guy is not a hacker
"Hanging's too good for him!
Burning's too good for him!
He ought to be chopped into little pieces and buried alive!"
Flash is the Herpes of the Internet.
your.opinion >
The IT consultancy I worked for at the time our young German friend released his worm made a chunk of change cleaning up his mess he left behind. Frankly, I think he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. He's no different then Mitnick and he went to jail for a long time, nor that fat tub of retard who modified Blaster who should have been posterboy'ed. *shrug*
Ah, but he was a minor. If you're going to fry someone, fry his parents. I'll bet you that will make a difference to the supervision levels of kids using computers.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Do they still sentence people to being gummed to dead by toothless rabid weazels?
.. at least according to the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4649361.stm
Watch the Teaser Trailer for "The Lightning Thief" Her
The Law vs Justice has been a long fight and I don't see the end of it. People getting off on technicalities or getting caught because of their ignorance. Law cannot substitute for Justice - it can only be the fighting arm of Justice.
Also IMHO, they shouldn't try and make an example out of him - but they can't just let him loose either. I cannot say what to do - but that's why there are judges and courts.Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
He'll get the maximum possible sentence. He embarassed a *monopolistic* megacorp with enough money to influence the legal system; they'll make sure the poor kid gets the book thrown at him for daring to fight M$ back.
I, for one, don't want to have my taxes used to incarcerate someone who doesn't pose a life or death threat to anyone else in society. Fine him up the ass, make him do community service for a decade, but there's no reason why we should throw essentially a social criminal who harmed no one but business into prison.
/. crowd, some super smart folks, who will quickly resort to violence over someone fucking with their geekdom.
I'm amazed by the
No sig for you!!
Maybe he shouldn't get let off so easily. Here Steven Landsburg, a PhD in Economics, explains the economic logic behind executing worm-creators
Make him join the Army and go to Iraq for 1-2-3 tours. Fix stuff with sand in it.
Ok, ok, let's be civilized -- just his left-hand pinky.
Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
As much as I'd love to condemn his actions, I started thinking about the first idea that came to my mind when I heard he was going to be locked away for awhile... something along the lines of a private collection to pay one of the bigger kids in juvey to beat the crap out of him daily. Somebody help me reason out why I'm right and he's still wrong! ;)
I worked in tech support at the time, and I say that as punishment he needs to be tied to a chair witha headset affixed to his head and take calls from people affected by the worm, and try to convince them that he shouldn't be put in prison. Writing a virus or a worm may be a fun/educational excercise, but to release it into the wild is a sign of stupidity, amorality, or sociopathy. In either case he needs to have his nose rubbed in this so he doesn't do it again, and more importantly so the next kid thinks twice before releasing his creation.
I don't think Microsoft are embarassed anywhere near enough. Everyone now thinks its this kid's fault, when really they ought to be screaming firstly at Microsoft for making OS's out of paper mache, and secondly incredibly incompetent sysadmins who were stupid enough to put Windows on critical systems, and didn't apply released patches!
Sasser didn't actually have a payload - it just replicated out of control. Virus writers like Sven are doing us all a favor at the moment by producing mere proofs-of-concept - imagine what'll happen when someone with actual destructive intention does something that actually *tries* to cause some harm!
Sorry, but I find your argument idiotic in the extreme. Arson seems a better analogy to his actions. Let's assume an unoccupied building, just to be fair.
Setting the fire causes trouble for people, but not for personal gain. It's like "I was only curious how fast the fire would spread, and how much would burn down before the fire department could respond."
Do you think arson is "Not good, and shouldn't go unpunished, but not something to get a prison sentence for."? Does a five year maximum sentence really seem unreasonable?
While we're at it, do you really think you're not going to be risking jail time if you try to see how close you can get to the nuclear missles? I'd assume there would certainly be jail time if you got close at all, assuming you don't do really well, and get close enough to just be shot on sight.
Safety-critical environment?
How about British Airways*, the UK Coastguard, and Australian Railcorp? What anyone was thinking putting Windows in places like this, I have no idea - and even worse, evidently without a working patching regime!
* check-in only apparently, I'll grant that
I thought that said faeces. Perhaps I should go to the loo.
Get your own free personal location tracker
Use this as YET ANOTHER wake up call that your computer is NOT a VCR.
But both of them can be used for watching pr0n!!!
Ah, but he was a minor. If you're going to fry someone, fry his parents. I'll bet you that will make a difference to the supervision levels of kids using computers.
You may not have been serious, but luckily for everyone concerned Germany is in the EU - where the prohibition of the death penalty is a condition of entry. Plus it would appear that the West German constitution of 1949 abolished it anyway.
I've never quite understood how supposedly civilised countries can put their citizens to death, for whatever reason. The no-death-penalty, no-extradition-to-face-execution clauses of EU membership make be inordinately proud of being European...
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
They opened an RPC DCE receiver port on everyones home PC. They were warned it was an unnecessary security risk, they didn't audit the code or block it. It was cracked.
So they should get a fine otherwise they'll never clean up their act.
But in Germany, it is illegal to spank your children. If they grow up to be undisciplined little snots, how can the government hold parents responsible when the government took away the parents' freedom to discipline their children as they see fit?
Debating whether to post AC.... Nah.
taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
1) Not every kid is enough of a sociopath to pull shit like this. (When you infect a hospital's software systems and maybe destroy patient's records the patient can die.) They may know that they can do it, but they are also aware enough to understand the consequences. Any one of the age of reason (seven years old) should know that you just can't do that sort of thing (even the nastiest bully I ever knew knew that, he did it anyway but he at least knew it.)
2) Not every employer is going to want to hire such a sociopathic kid and I would caution the kid that having such 'L33t Sk1lz' is more likely to land him a job with the wrong type of employer, one who let him swing in the breeze when they eventually get caught screwing with bank accounts.
I would buy the kid a Mac 'sans' XCode CD-ROM and keep him away from L33t haxxor tools, for every body else's protection.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Five Years? That's no big deal then. He'll be on parole before Longhorn actually ships :-)
Wonder if he's had any job offers?
If anything, this guy would be smart to sell the book rights to Hollywood.
Yes, you are inordinately proud, indeed.
Your analogy is erroneus; the correct form is: This is almost like saying Bin Laden did a good thing by levelling World Trade center - because he created awareness of errors in the twin towers design.
Something about the haughty tone of this post makes me think the poster is a hearty advocate of abortion....but nobody wants to swim in these waters, now do they ;)
"Me? Lady, I'm your worst nightmare -- a pumpkin with a gun."
Jaschan: You want answers?
Prosecutor: I think I'm entitled to them.
Jaschan: You want answers?
Prosecutor: I want the truth!
Jaschan: You can't handle the truth! Old man, we live in a world that has firewalls. And those firewalls have to be setup by men with MCSEs. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Mr. Ballmer?
I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Windows XP and you curse Microsoft. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Windows XP has faults, while tragic, probably saved jobs. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves jobs...
You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at LAN parties, you want me on hacking that firewall. You need me finding exploits in that firewall. We use words like reboot, blue screen, exploits, Microsoft...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent hacking something. You use 'em as a punchline.
I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very exploits I find, then questions the manner in which I exploit it!
I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a real firewall and configure it. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!
Prosecutor: Did you write the Sasser worm?
Jaschan: (quietly) I did the job you sent me to do.
Prosecutor: Did you write the Sasser worm?
Jaschan: You're goddamn right I did!!
Give him something constructive to do, instead of misdirecting his time and talents (read: community service in the technology field).
Maybe his parents weren't paying any attention to him, or perhaps he felt lonely and unnoticed. We don't know what this kid has gone through, but he probably doesn't belong in a jail cell!
Just because the kid caused some of you sysadmins a hard time (ok, you lost some money too) doesn't mean he shouldn't receive mercy and understanding. The kid has some skillz and motivation (better than alot of kids who waste their lives smoking pot and playing xbox), so let's utilise his talents and give him a future.
SEO Copywriter. Just Say ON
Having such a disfunctional and insecure OS that it lays down and spreads its legs to every sailor in the fleet should be a criminal offense and the penalties should be the same (eevn if it means that some 'Thyphoid Mary' Mallon lies in limbo until she croaks.)
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Anything less is hypocrisy and posturing - "having our cake and eating it, too"...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
The charges, ..., carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
At least he wasn't busted with pirated music. That carries a real penalty.
OK, you could say the writer wished to cause harm irrespective of target. Like dumping nails on a road. But then you get into a slippery slope of criminal intent. He caused harm. What about all those who spread their worm through their unpatched systems? What about those who had been warned and still left their systems unpatched? What about those who might have willfully removed patches?
No internet, no TV, no human contact at all.
I'd lock him up on a fenced in acre of Wyoming with a bunch of books on ethics and have his meals brought in by an armored book mobile robot.
Later, I'd expand the range of books to include self-help books.
His attitude and actions deserve ostracism and we deserve to be protected from him.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Reading people's replies on Slashdot to things like this often appalls me. This kid caused annoyance to many people and wasted time, and subsequently money. However, how much time and money is his freedom worth? We are talking about potentially locking someone up in jail/prison for writing code. Ripping their freedom away for pushing keys. Sure, they caused trouble, but is it worth taking away their freedom for? Also, his attacks caused the most time loss and money loss for huge corporations. I don't have much sympathy for a soulless, money grubbing corporation. That is what corporations are, but I would much rather see a corporation lose some money than a person go to jail/prison.
This also seems to show just how obsessed we are with computers. We are willing to throw a kid in jail because he temporarily caused us computer annoyance. What the hell is our world coming to? Ban him from computers or something. Sentence him to teaching Microsoft how to have a more secure system.
This guy has skills and his freedom is worth more than money in a CEO's bank. He messed up and did something stupid, but you should never take away a person's freedom for something like what he did.
I think a lot of people could learn a bit from placing themselves in other people's shoes, such as this guy's parents, or friends, family, etc. What if this was your kid, or your best friend? Sure, some of you say monitor your kids more. You can't always have time to do that. Kids are sneaky. Kids need privacy. Are you going to sit and watch everything your teen does 24/7? Are you going to monitor all his coding into the night?
Dustin - A different story...
If the manufacturer claimed that the lock would be proof against a credit card, then he shares in the fault.
If, however; on the lock package there was a phrase like, "This lock is provided AS IS, and is not warranted nor guaranteed to be fit for any particular use or purpose whatsoever and any loss of personal property or data is all YOUR FAULT!" then you're silly to trust it.
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
To go down the garden path of increasing awareness, try this analogy.
Sasser boy is riding a rollercoaster.
He notices a loose screw.
Does he
A. Inform the rollercoaster operator of the problem
B. Attempt to repair it himself
C. Unscrew it to demonstrate the safety risk of the initial poor design/maintenance?
Yes, there is only one right answer here - and it sure ain't C. If Sasserboy wanted to do something noble, he could have programmed a workaround to patch the hole until M$ could release their patch.
Instead, he took the screw out.
Idiot. We don't need people like this in IT. Common sense is slightly more important than technical savvy - remember, most hacks are social engineered ones.
Yeah, I know, and I agree with you really. They pretty much did this in the UK recently as well, and all it's done is produce a mini-generation who walk up to you, swear, key the side of your car, kick your bin over spilling rotting food all over your garden, and then reply "Yeah, whatever" when you ask them what they think they're doing.
This is what happens when political correctness and a nanny state don't get stamped on forcibly and quickly by people with common sense. Just ask the teachers... if there are still any left! :-(
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
He is charged with stupidity.
Kid? He was 17 at the time. If you're watching over your 17-year-old's shoulder every second he's on the computer, you're the one with a parenting problem.
I've upped my standards, so up yours.
Fry the kid - figure of speech. Make an example of him AND his parents. Take away their stuff and fine them, not kill them. This is a deterrant only to careless parents and clueless kids.
If it weren't for the Plague then a part of the population today would not be immune to HIV. The Plague helped promote the Delta32 mutation that has saved lives today. Hackers are facilitating better code for the world. Only the fittest survive.
The damage was data that could be recreated. Costing people time is irrelevant (no honestly it is) unless that time is expensed or billed (then it becomes relevant). Murders can eventually make their way back into society just like any other criminal. Your sentence is how you are punished. Like it or not. He has the right to pursue a career after he has done his time. This isn't to say that people shouldn't be able to pursue him for punitive damages... If you can say "You cost me $4M" I believe you have the right to (attempt to) sue him for that cost. Good luck getting that out of a minor though.
Oops, how did this get here?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Crack dealers are often very good businessmen, and have to work hard to keep the supply chains running, salesmen on the streets, etc. We don't normally see them working for the DEA afterwards, or getting jobs on Wall Street with their acquired skills. Instead we lock them up for 20 years.
Crack dealers may be great businessmen on the streets, but often there are a different set of skills required to make it in legitimate businesses. Respect for social structure, having "cultural capital" (the ability to maneuver in these structures) and deal with gov't beuracracy, ect are things one working in underground markets doesn't have to deal with as much. For an example of an drug dealer trying to make it in legal business, I would suggest reading Philippe Bourgois's In Search of Respect : Selling Crack in El Barrio. A text common in many Sociology classes.
Sorry. I linked to the old edition.
This is the current one.
His right to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law? Everybody else's rights to see justice served? The rights he's given up by breaking the law?
Just because it's relating to rights doesn't mean the case shouldn't be happening.
Karma: Non-Heinous
That oughta allow anyone to do it.
In the UK, Sasser forced staff at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to return to manual map reading because computer systems were made unusable by the worm.
Check-in for some British Airways flights was also delayed thanks to Sasser.
Around the world, the Australian Railcorp trains stopped running because computer problems caused by Sasser made it impossible for drivers to talk to signalmen.
In Taiwan, more than 400 branches of the post office were forced to use pen and paper because Sasser crashed desktop PCs.
These are not mere annoyances to "soulless" corporations (which, by the way, employ lots of real people -- perhaps even yourself!). The failure of the UK Coast Guard's system or the train dispatching system in Australia could have easily killed people.
The problem with juvenile cases taking years to determine a verdict, is that the defendant might no longer be a juvenile when the verdict is rendered. The basis for special sentencing of the juvenile comes from the recognition that juveniles can be easier to rehabilitate than adults, who don't learn as easily. When you put a juvenile behind bars, you're already starting to teach them they're criminals. When you leave them there for years, until they're adults, you've probably created a criminal, even if they could have been easily rehabilitated early - even if they were not guilty. Juvenile cases should be among the highest priorities, as justice delayed extracts a terrible cost, for the rest of their lives, in or out of "the system".
--
make install -not war
This article is pretty slim on actual information on the malicious intent of the virus. CNN had a pretty good article on it, which stated that it didn't have a malicious payload, it just did what a worm does and that slowed down networks. In fact, when he realized what it was doing, he tried to release a fix, AND he was trying to create a virus that would automatically stop other viruses.
Lots of misplaced anger in this thread. He made a mistake, he admitted it, so all of you, especially those with pirated, not updated copies of Windows, please move along.
Let's say 2,000,000 people were affected, and it wasted 1 hour of their time. That's 2,000,000 hours of human time. The average life is about 450,000 hours. Moreover, it was intentional. He destroyed at least four entire lives!! He deserves death, or whatever penalty you think a pre-meditated mass murderer deserves.
P.S. I'm not kidding.
nt
It's really telling that he was the guy to get but M$ get's off with no responsibility whatsoever. Not that they should be prosecuted, but they could write code to fry your machine and their EULA obfiscates them of any responsibility. This always got me about their position against Linux. "No one is responsible!" they say. Yet, who at M$ is responsible for leaving the door open to such attacks?
I think that things like that are examples of unintended consequence. It reinforces the need for this guy to be punished; however jail time is still harsh, particularly as no one was hurt.
On the up side, this reminds businesses, corporations, and governments to actually secure their systems. If a worm can get in and cause this trouble, imagine if someone malicious did the same and altered the system to try and cause more trouble, for example altering data or control so that trains would crash into each other. This is a wake up call for people that security is important in their systems, particularly if they are on networks and run important things which interface with life safety. The results of this were much less than they could have been had this programmer been more malicious.
Like I said, this guy made a bad choice in placing this worm online and still needs to be punished. I just don't think locking someone up is a good solution. There are much worse crimes than what he did, his just happened to effect a very large number of people, often due to the carelessness or ignorance of persons in charge of certain systems or equipment.
Dustin - A different story...
Death Penalty
Has it worked?
put him in charge of the IT department in any large scale office environment with more than 25, but less than 50 employees. 1. He won't get any help because they'll keep telling him they're over budget. 2. He will spend hard time each day fixing not only the problems that he helped spread and design, but all the annoying little in between stuff that has to be done NOW. (like trying to resurrect Outlook profiles after ghost emails start appearing) 3. The work-to-pay ratio will be so off that he will think that he is losing money instead of earning it. 4. He'll be too busy to consider a script for CounterStrike, much less writing code.
It takes just a moment and an action to destroy. It takes some time and thought to create.
"We are talking about potentially locking someone up in jail/prison for writing code."
If you think this guy is guilty of merely "writing code", you need to reexamine the situation.
-- "I never gave these stories much credence." - HAL 9000
Dear Sven, Screw you for all the phone calls I've gotten; "hey, my computer keeps shutting down, can you look at it for me."
So what ?
Explain me why the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, or British Airways, or even the Australian Railcorp connects their computers to the global network we call the internet ? Explain me why they use an untested system (Windows) to operate potentially life-threatening services ?
This is downright stupid. This is not your mom and pop shop we're talking about. These are agencies, corporations, that should have security of their people or the people they serve as their first rule. You do not put in operation a system that you haven't tested for failure. There are well-known procedures to implement safety testing. I really think that the persons responsible for these systems should be at least fired, if not put on trial. This guy didn't put bricks on the track, didn't try to put a bomb in a plane, things that are clearly difficult to avoid by applying well-known methods. However, safety-testing of a computer system is possible and relatively easy, if you're not trying to be the cheapest. When I board a train I expect the wheels are checked regularly, the structure won't collapse from vibrations. We should also expect the computer system not to collapse without serious reasons.
Because other civilized countries recognize that not necessarily all killing is wrong, and in certain cases the execution of a criminal is in the best interest of the state. There are no moral objections to executing somebody who has violated their responsiblity as a citizen to obey the most important laws of the country. The criminals still have the right to due process, and most sit on death row for a very long time before they are actually executed. Even Timothy McVeigh, the man behind the largest domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history, was not executed until six years after the Oklahoma City bombing. In the Unites States, while this punishment is legal in certain states, it is very rarely used. Except in Texas.
Then you're silly to trust any of them.
Not silly to use them, but silly to trust them very far.
Luckily, backups of data are relatively easy, compared to backups of personal property.
I was just imagining:
I purchase a copy of each of my personal posessions each month.
I keep each backup set in a fireproof storge unit in different parts of the city.
When a backup set is 5 years old I destroy it by putting it through a strong magnetic field. The furniture doesn't seem to get very destroyed, though, so I do it twice with the furniture.
I've considered incremental backups, but prefer the redundancy of full backups.
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
The US and Japan are the only remaining developed-world countries who do this.
Me (Blog)
Something about the haughty tone of this post makes me think the poster is a hearty advocate of abortion...
;-)
Well, you'd be wrong - I feel that abortion is pretty loathsome too...
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?