Sven Jaschan was tried as a minor because he created Sasser when
he was 17 years old. If tried as an adult, he could have faced up
to five years in prison. Instead, he received a suspended sentence
of one year and nine months and 30 hours of community service, to
be served at a hospital or a retirement home.
It was Jaschan's first offence. The judge said he also took into
account his immediate confession and his age.
Jaschan was caught after a tip-off from someone seeking a
$250,000 bounty offered by Microsoft's Anti-Virus Reward Program.
He is now working for an anti-virus software firm.
Alan Bentley, UK Managing Director of PatchLink Corporation
commented:
"We can only hope that this sentence will be
enough to deter other script-kiddies from distributing malicious
code. The fact remains that young people testing out their computer
skills in their bedrooms cost businesses thousands of pounds to
restore their systems hit by viruses. The good news for businesses
is that Microsoft is having success in tracking down and
prosecuting the perpetrators of internet crime."
