http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...I1OCRBAELCFEY?

HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - German police have arrested an 18-year-old man who confessed to creating the "Sasser" computer worm, believed to be one of the costliest Internet attacks.

In what police called the largest case of its kind, the computer science student was arrested on Friday after software giant Microsoft gave German authorities a tip-off, police said.

"We are absolutely certain that this really is the creator of the Internet worm because Microsoft experts were involved in the inquiry and confirmed our suspicions and because the suspect admitted to it," said Frank Federau from Lower Saxony police.

Microsoft, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and German police had worked together to find the suspect.

Police described the suspect as a highly intelligent "computer freak" living with his parents.

They said the man, who they declined to name, studied computer science at a vocational school and he got his "passion for programing" from his family's computer services business.

It was the lure of cash that proved the man's undoing. A group of individuals from his home state of Lower Saxony approached Microsoft on Wednesday inquiring about reward money should they turn in the man, Microsoft said.

The firm has put bounties of up to $250,000 on the heads of other notorious virus writers. Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith told reporters the company agreed to pay the informants if there is a conviction.

Ruediger Butte, head of the State Crime Office in Lower Saxony, said Microsoft contacted German police on Friday. Police arrested the man the same day near the central German town of Rotenburg and he confessed during the afternoon.

He was later set free because there was no evidence to suggest he was a repeat offender, police said.

Police believed he created all variants of the Sasser worm, a destructive program that has claimed big scalps, such as Germany's Deutsche Post and Britain's coastguard stations

It's funny how in some news stories an 18 year-old is a "boy" and on some a "man". This story was on the news in UK today and they said "18 year-old boy". Heh.

Hmmm the guy's a prick for what he did, but damn I wish I had his brain power (must be pretty clever if he can program something like that at age 18).

[ 05-08-2004, 10:22 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]

They said he has been doing tech stuff for years, and he's only 18. He must be a regular whiz kid. Too bad he has a screw loose.

OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CAUGHT SADDAM HUSSE-oh. Awesome.

Yes... that would be your clue... :


By the way... I never seem to get these trendy virusses and I kind of feel left out... :(

or not... [img]smile.gif[/img]

i just want say so much "so much for friends who turned him in". My guess is that he will go off lightly in a way and be hired by those multi big corporations seeing his potential at only 18yrs old. And yeah.. i wish i had his brain.

I don't.
"Geniuses don't get caught"

It just says 'a group of individuals', not friends. They were probably just fellow geeks that had associations with him, and a huge cash reward is a huge cash reward. So, beware of who you go blabbing about your criminal activities to on the internet! ;)

Quote:

My guess is that he will go off lightly in a way and be hired by those multi big corporations seeing his potential at only 18yrs old.

Yeah, true. He obviously has some sort of gift for computer programming. Microsoft would be fools to not utilise his abilities to further strengthen their company.

Well I believe "perfection through experience" .. he's only 18 yrs old! if he was 25+ or more.. then understandable.

and of course "there is always the first time" ;)

$250000 bounty. hmm...might as well quit my current job and become a bounty hunter. :D