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Jeffrey Lee Parson, the teenager from Hopkins, Minnesota,who
wrote the Blaster-B internet worm which launched an
attack against Microsoft's website has been sentenced
to 18 months in prison and 100 hours of community service
by a US District Court.
Parson's worm, the court heard, infected 48,000 computers
and caused an estimated $1.2 million in damage when
it spread in August 2003.
Jeffrey Lee Parson, the teenager from Hopkins, Minnesota,who
wrote the Blaster-B internet worm which launched an
attack against Microsoft's website has been sentenced
to 18 months in prison and 100 hours of community service
by a US District Court.
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Jeffrey Lee Parson
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Parson's worm, the court heard, infected 48,000 computers
and caused an estimated $1.2 million in damage when it spread
in August 2003.
"An 18 month prison sentence is probably the best that
Jeffrey Parson could have realistically hoped for. The US
authorities have demonstrated their determination to deal
with virus writers and other cybercriminals," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Parson's
sentence sends out a strong message to other young people
that writing viruses is a fool's game. Parson and his parents
will be regretting the day he decided to get involved in virus-writing."
Parson, who went by the online handle of "Teekid",
based his virus upon the virulent Blaster-A worm which exploited
a serious security hole in Microsoft's software as it spread
around the globe.
Parson, a physically imposing figure at 6-foot-4-inches tall
and weighing 320 pounds, included a link inside the worm to
his website where he made viruses available for download alongside
lyrics for songs by Judas Priest, Megadeth and Weird Al Yankovic.
US District Court Judge Marsha Pechman additionally imposed
three years of supervised release following Parson's prison
term, during which he can only use computers for business
and education purposes - not video games, file-sharing or
hacking. Pechman told Parson to complete 100 hours of community
service - 10 hours a month for 10 months - and said she would
give him credit for SAT or other classes as long as he takes
the courses with live people, and not over the internet.
"You can't help but feel sorry for Jeffrey Parson -
he was clearly a kid with issues, who got mixed up in a game
with far bigger consequences than he could have ever imagined,"
continued Cluley. "It must not be forgotten that the
identity of the author of the original Blaster worm, who infected
many many more computers than Parson, is still a mystery.
Despite a $250,000 bounty on their head - we are still no
closer to unmasking the culprit. Jeffrey Parson is small fry
when compared to the major virus-writing criminals who are
still at large."
Corpex recommends home computer users as well as companies
protect their computers with a consolidated solution to thwart
virus and spam threats as well as secure their desktop and
servers with updated anti-virus
and anti-spam
protection such as Armour Plate.
Source: Sophos
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Blaster-B
Worm Author Sentenced to 18 months in Jail - 03/02/2005
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