Sasser worm teenager arrested

A German 18-year old has been arrested for creating the Sasser worm virus, after his acquaintances submitted to the $5 million award offered by Microsoft for his capture and turned him into the police.

The worm virus rushed around the world last week after it exploited a flaw in versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system. The culprit said he originally wanted to make a virus that could rival the "Mydoom" and "Bagle" viruses by removing them from computers, but developed Sasser in the process.

It hit public hospitals in Hong Kong, one-third of Taiwan's post branches and caused 20 British Airways flights to be delayed by 10 minutes last Tuesday.

This is the first success for Microsoft's $5 million reward offered to informants for leads on virus attacks. Security experts have also claimed it as the single biggest arrest yet in the campaign against people who create worms and viruses.

German police were able to identify the perpetrator just 48 hours after the informants came forward and told them about the author, who they believe is also responsible for all four variants of the Sasser virus, including "Netsky."

He was arrested last Friday at his family home in Northern Germany. The investigators confiscated his customised computer, which had the worm's source code on it.

The informants backed up their evidence by providing parts of the worm source code. The police claim this could only have come from the author.

The teenager has been arrested under suspicion of computer sabotage, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

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