Virus writer confesses guilt

German teenager, Sven Jaschan, has admitted in court to being the creator of the Sasser virus.

Jaschan is charged with the creation of the Sasser B virus, a computer bug that struck around the world last year.

Court spokeswoman, Katharina Kruetzfeldt, said that Sven Jaschan confessed during a private tribunal hearing that he had released the Windows attacking code in May 2004.

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant for Sophos says that Jaschan has done the right thing by confessing early.

‘The court is likely to respond with a lenient sentence on account of his age at the time of the offences, and because he has confessed his guilt,’ he said.

At the peak of its spread the Sasser virus caused global disruption to the web, and was the fastest spreading internet worm to date.

In the UK staff at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency were forced to revert back to manual map reading, and British Airways had to delay its flights due to online check-in problems. Around the world the virus is thought to have caused $4bn (£2.3bn) worth of damage.

Jaschan was only caught after Microsoft put up a $250,000 bounty for information on the virus’s writer.