Posted 9:01 AM

Misunderstood? Update 5/20

The BBC reports that an anonymous group is raising funds to aid virus writer Sven Jaschan, the author of Sasser. Called the "Sasser Support Team", the group claims that "Sasser was intended as a harmless wake-up call to the world,Sven did the right thing by making this alarm call."

Sorry, but a hotel's front desk doesn't send a wake-up call by setting the hotel on fire. There are better, less destructive methods to do so. And you don't call attention to exploitable weaknesses (especially those that already have patches available) by unleashing a destructive worm on the internet. Jaschan is, at best, a naive imbecile who needs to be locked up for his own good as well as society's. At worst, he deserves all of the punishments available from every country in which his little project broke the law.

"It ain't just a question of misunderstood;
Deep down inside him, he's no good! "
-Stephen Sondheim, "Gee Officer Krupke", West Side Story

UPDATE: The BBC reports that the group has been shutdown by PayPal after collecting approx. $100. The organizers, though, claim they weren't able to find a way to get the money to Jaschan so that he could spend it on "cigarettes and whiskey" before going to jail. Bizarre? Possinly, but pathetic? Most certainly.