Teen alleged to have unleashed Sasser in the Dock

The teenager who allegedly wrote and unleashed the Sasser worm on the world will be in court today as his trial begins. Sven Jaschan is expected to avoid a custodial sentence, as he is being tried as a juvenile:

The German teenager suspected of being behind the Sasser virus has gone on trial in Germany.

Sven Jaschan is charged with computer sabotage, disrupting public services and illegally altering data.

The 19-year-old is being tried as a minor behind closed doors as he was 17 when he allegedly wrote the worm.

Sasser wrought havoc in many companies when the Windows worm struck in May 2004, swamping net links and making computers unusable.

The trial in Verden in northwest Germany is expected to last three days, with a possible verdict on Thursday.

Mr Jaschan is likely to escape the maximum sentence of five years in prison since he is being tried as a juvenile.

He now works for a German security software company called Securepoint.

More from the BBC here.

Everyone seems confident that he won't get any time in the big house - and that's probably correct. But with the scale of the damage done, doesn't he deserve (if found guilty, of course) a sentence that fits the crime, and not just a slapped wrist? And by that I mean loosing his freedom and liberty for several years - not just collecting rubbish from roadsides or other such similar community punishments.

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