WebProNews

A German court handed down a suspended sentence of 21 months, plus 30 hours of community service, to worm author Sven Jaschan.

Antivirus firm Sophos surveyed over 550 people on the verdict reached in the very short trial of Sasser worm author Sven Jaschan. Of those respondents, 78 percent believe the sentencing was not nearly as harsh as it should have been.

"With almost 80% of those surveyed saying Jaschan's sentence was too lenient, it seems that many computer users aren't convinced justice has been served," said Carole Theriault, security consultant at Sophos.

International lawsuits against the now 19 year old virus writer have not been filed. It seems unlikely many corporations will do so, as the expense of doing so may outweigh any possible present or future damages they could hope to recover.

The German tribunal hearing the case rules that, since Mr. Jaschan was only 17 at the time he wrote the Sasser worm, he should be treated as a minor. Prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that since he distributed the worm beginning on his 18th birthday, that should be the age at which a sentence should be considered.

The sentence falls three months short of the maximum prosecutors had requested; they had also petitioned the court to require 200 hours of community service from the defendant.

Ms. Theriault questions the wisdom of Microsoft offering a $250,000 USD reward for information that ultimately led to Mr. Jaschan's arrest, since two people who claimed the reward may have helped develop the worm in the first place.

"It's good to see Microsoft taking strong action against such crimes, but it might struggle if it has to shed out big bucks for every virus writer who gets arrested," she said.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.