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March 30, 2005
Blaster scapegoat convicted
The Star Tribune reported today that Jeffrey Parson, (the Blaster virus scapegoat,) has been convicted and will serve prison time, 100 hours of community service, and three years of "supervised" release, (during which time, he'll be forbidden from using a computer for anything other than work or school). His crime was modifying the original blaster virus, which is estimated to have caused more than $525 million in damages.
In contrast, Parson's variant of the virus (which he created in less than two days from the original) is estimated to have caused $1.22 million. Perhaps ironically, it was Microsoft that claimed the most damages in the suit, at somewhere around $600 thousand. Of course, the virus only affected computers running Windows software. The 19 year old Parson, a native of Hopkins MN, was tried and convicted in Seattle, Washington, home of Microsoft's corporate headquarters.
Posted by Martin at March 30, 2005 11:56 PM