German Youth Convicted for Sasser Worm

dan dan the dna man writes "The BBC is reporting that Sven Jaschan, author of the Sasser Worm, has been found guilty of computer sabotage and illegally altering data. He received a 21 month suspended sentence, as he was tried as a minor. He was 17 years old when he wrote the worm." From the article: "Sven Jaschan avoided a jail sentence by the skin of his teeth because he was arrested within days of his 18th birthday...However, in the grand scheme of the virus world, it's the organised crime gangs, which are increasingly emerging to make stacks of money through targeted attacks, that should be dealt the harsh sentences - over and above the dumb teenagers."

Comments

more appropriate punishment

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't lock him up, don't curtail his computer usage.

Just force him to use AOL for the next 5 years.

Re:more appropriate punishment

[TripMaster Monkey]

You call that 'appropriate'???

I call that 'cruel and unusual'.

Dumb Kid, Sure

[DanielMarkham]

But his "prank" costs tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. FTA,

...allegedly wrecked Delta Airlines' systems in Atlanta for seven hours, leading to the cancellation of 40 flights. 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 computers...

In the USA, we're already seeing a big push to try juveniles as adults in violent crime cases. The damage caused by this worm was serious business -- its not too hard to extrapolate people one day losing their lives because of worms like this.
Being a dumb teenager is one thing. Causing world disruption is something else entirely (Yes. I know. The victims bear some responsibility)
People take the computer too lightly, like it was a TV set or something. It's more like a small nuclear bomb in each home, great for powering the house, but not so much something you want the kids mucking around with unsupervised. If you are one of those who think gun control stops gun crime, wait 20 years or so until people start advocating "computer control" to stop cyber crime. You'll have a blast with that one.

WTF? How About CSS Implementation?

Re:Dumb Kid, Sure

[dasunt]

We don't (usually) try kids as adults because we understand that children tend to have a more limited judgement than adults. Admittedly, there is a lot of problems with this.

However, arguing that the punishment should be increased due to the severity of the crime is somewhat faulty logic. If a child runs into the interstate and ends up causing an accident that kills 20 people, we don't charge the child with 20 cases of manslaughter.

That's the problem with having limited judgement: You don't really grasp the consequences of your actions.

(Now if you want to argue that the kid's understanding of the crime was about the same as an adult's understanding of the crime, and thus he should be tried as an adult, that could be a valid argument.)

Re:Dumb Kid, Sure

[Ingolfke]

A better analogy would be when people start talking about kitchen knife control or baseball bat control. Do you see that happening

Knives and bats are inanimate objects. They are controlled by people who make choices with thier minds... therefore we need to get to the root of the problem and start talking about mind control.

Re:Dumb Kid, Sure

[ScentCone]

There have been several proposals in the UK to require registration of all knives, including kitchen knives

Actually, the UK proposals include the banning of "long" kitchen knives from ownership by "the public." Presumably chefs and household gourmands are not "the public." Of course, this is completely ridiculous. People should be locked up when they do bad things, not when they own equipment (like cars, or gasoline, or kitchen knives, or computers) with which they can do bad things.

Re:Dumb Kid, Sure

[ScentCone]

Yeah, cause look at all the hand gun crimes in England...

The UK is chasing its tail on that one. No easily owned guns, so of course there's an epidemic of stabbings, instead. And of course now there are calls there to ban long kitchen knives because those are too dangerous for the public to own, too. All of this is politcally correct claptrap, designed to keep everyone looking busy doing something about problems while ignoring the real problem: poorly raised, intellectually stunted people with no sense of accountability. As long as people don't give a damn about the consequences of their actions, and as long as societies feel bad about holding the accountable, the only option is to pursue pointless little media-friendly exercises like taking tools away from people.

And, of course, people who don't care about the law anyway are going to ignore those laws, too, leaving only the criminals with guns, knives, and eventually anything heavy, pointy, or flammable. Australia took away everyone's guns, too, and have seen violent crime of all sorts skyrocket as a result.

Parent is wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

The virus was released ON his 18th birthday (April 29, 2004). He was tried as a minor because the german courts determined that he created the virus before he was 18. He wasn't arrested days before his 18th birthday as the parent says.

Skin of his teeth

[Hank Chinaski]

It wasnt even this close, because in Germany the youth criminal law is applicable to persons up to the age of 21, depending on how "adult" they behave and live. E.g. Living in your own apartement and having a job will probably get you treated as an adult. For his case the social projections are quite good, because he now lives a stable life with a regular job and a girlfriend.

Justice

[Malicious]

Create a Worm, cripple thousands of businesses, get convicted, no monitary fine, get a 2 year Jail sentence and 30 Hours of Community service, do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
Steal a Movie, get fined Thousands of dollars, go to Jail for dozens of years, never expect to use a computer or have any rights or freedoms again.

Amazing.

Re:Example?

[TripMaster Monkey]

But he was a child when he committed the offense...and he was a child when he was arrested...doesn't matter how old he is now.

*ducks*

[jZnat]

I guess he wasn't able to worm his way out of this one.

I wouldn't worry

[Moth7]

Most "leet hackers" under 18 couldn't hack their way out of a wet paper bag. If they start young enough to have a good level of programming ability by 17, then they've generally matured enough to handle that responsibility by then. This guy is the exception, not the rule.

Re:Others should face liability also

[TripMaster Monkey]

I was waiting for this argument...

From TFA:

Although Microsoft had released a patch for this loophole on 13 and 28 April 2004, many companies had not applied this protection before Sasser struck.

It looks like M$ is not the one to blame here (although we do so love to blame them).

Creating vs. releasing

[quentin_quayle]

I second the question - is it illegal in Germany to write a worm or virus? Or only to release it?

Same questions regarding the USA ... ?

In all the news reports and discussion of these cases, references to "writing" or "creating", and to releasing or spreading, are used interchangeably. It seems to me there is a big ethical difference and there ought to be a legal difference as well.

Consider the following series - at what point does the actor go wrong (a) ethically (b) legally?

1. Plan a worm, virus or other exploit
2. Write code
3. Compile and test it locally
4. Explain to others how to write one
5. Share source with friends or colleagues (a) for research/ POC? (b) for them to use any way they want? (c) with malicious intent?
6. Make binary available passively, others have to request it, as on a web page, with notice (not forced on anyone)
7. Someone other than the creator spreads it "in the wild"
8. Creator knowingly infects others

Re:Creating vs. releasing

[dknj]

simple, just release your virus with an EULA. if you use it, the creator assumes no responsibility. if the creator goes to jail, it means EULA's fail and thus hell will freeze over, the earth will start spinning backwards, and mass anarchy will take over the world.

Re:propose this penalty!

[g0bshiTe]

LMFAO, he should.
Though he will probably go on to write his first bio at 21, on his ordeal with the authorities after he released the code.
It will be picked up and made into a mini series where he will be portrayed as fighting for some type of political change.
At 25 he will go on to create his own Security firm.
One year after he starts his firm it makes the Fortune 500 top 5.

Punishment Does Not Fit The Crime

[Evil W1zard]

The simple fact here is that the punishment he is receiving does not fit the crime in scale and it sends out a really bad message to others in his community that they have a Get Out of Jail Free Card if they are under 18... I'm sorry but teenagers today are in many cases much smarter than adults. If the excuse is whether they are mature enough to distinguish between right and wrong then I question that argument because I think people learn that at around age 10... and if they can't comprehend the difference by age 14 then I would guess there is an issue psychologically. This kid caused millions in damages and should face not only time in prison but also some hefty monetary fines as well.

Re:Dumb Kid, Sure (But Delta Sucks)

[Ranger]

...allegedly wrecked Delta Airlines' systems in Atlanta for seven hours, leading to the cancellation of 40 flights. Around the world,

How is this any different than a normal day on Delta Airlines? They probably figured they could blame their low industry rankings on Sasser.

a crime is still a crime

[DirtyFly]

Im getting tired of listening to all that 'you dont patch is your fault' , 'you use microsoft is your fault the system is attacked'.
c'mon, if i leave my mobile in the car and it gets stolen, that is my fault ? NO IT IS NOT, i was dumb to leave it there because of the lack of security in the streets but I AM NOT the criminal neither is the car company that makes glasses that can be broken, either way you put it the burgler is the criminal here.
the kid is a criminal and should be dealt with acordingly, it is true that microsoft has bugs and flaws but the attack was mallicious, lets put it other therms, an old man walks with a cane and can not run , a juvenile kicks his ass and steals his wallet , is the old mans fault that he got burglered ? This is the same situation in many companies, they have a deficiency (unsecure OS) but they must live with it and must be left alone living with it.
Make no mistake the kid is no robin wood he did the worm just for spite , people should be hold accountable for what they do no matter what

Jorge Canelhas

http://www.retroreview.com/ - Retro Computing for all