A Reuters story suggests that police in Germany may have busted the author of the Sasser worm and more than 20 variants of the Netsky virus.
The arrest in Germany of two men suspected of writing crippling computer worms may be the biggest break yet in taking down the most prolific virus-writing group, security experts said on Saturday.
Since January, a group of crafty programers going by the name “Skynet anti-virus group” have been flooding the Internet with multiple variations of the debilitating Netsky virus, some capable of hijacking unwitting Internet users’ PCs with the aim of using them to send out spam e-mail or attack Web sites.
If the story turns out to be true, this would be the first time that a real honest-to-goodness virus writer has been caught in the act.
Update: The Washington Post confirms the story and says that the 18-year-old culprit has confessed to creating the Sasser worm. The suspect was identified by acquaintances who apparently stand to collect a $250,000 reward from Microsoft.
Ed Bott 