Slim Sasser sentence

Sven Jaschan, creator of the infamous Sasser worm that ravaged computers worldwide last year, was convicted Friday of various hi-tech crimes, including computer sabotage. His sentence? Twenty-one months probation and 30 hours community service.\nWhat?\nLet me refresh your memory. In May 2004 the Sasser worm hit the scene. The program spread incredibly fast because it wasn't limited by e-mail, as most viruses are, but could send itself through any unprotected connections a computer had. Once aboard, the worm creates a loop where the computer shuts down immediately after booting up. \nDelta Air Lines had to cancel flights. The British Coastguard's mapping services died. Much of Australia's rail network shut down. Hospitals in Hong Kong were knocked out. Finnish banks were closed. Millions of dollars in damages. While there were none reported, it's possible that at least one or two people died directly because of the lack of service in hospitals.\nAnd Jaschan gets 21 months probation because he was a minor when he wrote the program. \nJaschan did all of the coding for the Sasser worm while he was 17, a minor. However, Jaschan released the virus on his 18th birthday, making him a legal adult. Since he was a minor when he wrote the virus, the courts tried him as a minor, giving him the younger sentence. \nThis is like making a gun while a child, then killing someone with it as an adult. The creation of a malicious program is not a horrible act, in itself. Using that program to cause damage is. While the laws vary from country to country, most follow this logic, stating that the creators of computer viruses are not criminals, but those that release them into the Internet are. \nThis has, in part, caused some of the trouble in stopping virus writers. While they may write a program and very publicly put it up on a Web site with instructions on how to use it, it's the poor pissed-off sap that downloads it and sends it to his ex-girlfriend that gets the jail time. \nBut here the spirit of the law actually helps the prosecution. There was nothing wrong with creating the program. It was when Jaschan used his digital gun that he committed a crime against society, and when he did, he was 18. An adult. \nYes, the premeditation was while he was child. But given the damage caused, I would lean toward the side of "he's only partly a kid" than "he's only partly an adult." This shouldn't ruin his life, no. Anything more than five years of prison would be going over the top. But someone who caused the kind of havoc that he did deserves more than a slap on the wrists and a bracelet on the ankle. And 30 hours community service? You can put that on a job resume! Not that he needs to: Jaschan now works for the German digital security company Securepoint. He's making money to keep his buddies out with new firewalls. Looks like causing global mayhem is a good way to stand out for employers.