Belgian virus writer arrested

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.silicon.com/software/security/0,39024655,39118419,00.htm

by Will Sturgeon 
February 16 2004 

A female Belgian virus writer who has been waging a very public and
protracted war against Sophos anti-virus expert Graham Cluley has been
arrested and charged by the authorities.

Over the past few years 'Gigabyte' has launched a number of viruses,
all identified by a strong anti-Cluley theme. One launched a game on
infected PCs which challenged readers to answer questions about the
man the author had nicknamed 'Clueless'. Another game required
infected users to knock Cluley's head off on a modified coconut shy.

However, like many a Western bar brawl, this petty in-fighting
threatened to get out of control and draw in innocent bystanders, and
Gigabyte made very few friends outside the virus-writing community.

In total, Gigabyte is believed to have released four viruses to date:  
Quis, Coconut, Sahay and Sharp.

According to press reports, the unnamed Belgian virus writer was
arrested by the police in her hometown of Mechelen. She has been
charged and released.

The police confiscated five PCs and closed down her website, where she
had allegedly previously posted malicious code.

If convicted of a charge of computer data sabotage, Gigabyte faces up
to three years in prison and fines of up to €100,000. However, recent
court cases involving virus writers and hackers suggest she may well
escape with a more lenient sentence than the maximum.

The source of Gigabyte's discontent is comments made by Cluley some
years ago when he claimed the majority of virus writers are male.  
Since then, Gigabyte has been on a mission to prove that females can
cause just as much havoc as male virus writers.

Ironically it was that strong streak of the self-publicist in Gigabyte
which ultimately led to her undoing. Carole Theriault, a security
analyst at Sophos, said: "It is normally incredibly difficult to track
down virus writers but when they start coming out and boasting about
what they are doing they can often help us to find out where they
are."

But perhaps the bitterest irony for the outspoken Cluley in all of
this is that he is away on holiday as the news breaks. Never one to
shy away from public comment, he will be kicking himself to miss this
one.

However, Cluley's colleague Theriault said everybody at Sophos will be
hoping for a sentence befitting the serious crime of distributing
malicious code - though she said the exact nature of the sentence is
for the courts to decide. However, the case for the prosecution would
be greatly aided if any companies affected by Gigabyte's creations
were to come forward and give the courts an idea of extent of damage
done, according to Theriault.

Theriault added: "It's just a shame that [Gigabyte] didn't think to
put her brain towards something more useful than virus writing because
she's obviously very clever."

And that's a point which Gigabyte may soon have time to ponder on.



-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn'
in the BODY of the mail.