Computer Virus Suspect Turned Himself in
A M S T E R D A M, Netherlands, Feb. 14, 2001 -- A computer hacker turned himselfin today and was charged with spreading the Anna Kournikovacomputer virus that snarled e-mail around the world, officialssaid. He was promptly released on his own recognizance.
The 20-year-old from the northern province of Friesland wasallowed to go home because the charges weren’t serious enough tohold him in jail, a police spokesman said.
The suspect, who was not identified under customary privacyregulations, was detained on suspicion of damaging computerprograms and property, which carries a maximum four-year jailsentence.
“The offenses with which he has been charged aren’t enough tohold him,” police spokesman Robert Rambonnet said.
A district court would hear the case “within a few weeks” totry and sentence the suspect. His computer was confiscated forinvestigation, Rambonnet said.
A statement posted on the Web site of the National Police Agencyindicated the man was unaware of what he was doing.
“The young man downloaded an existing program from the Interneton Sunday, Feb. 11, and on the same day launched it onto theInternet,” the document said. “When he realized what the viruswas doing he agreed with his parents to report to the police,” thestatement said.
The Anna Kournikova virus backed up e-mail systems and hundredsof thousands of computers from Australia to the United States.
Footsteps Traced Through Network
The virus was traced by the Excite@Home computer network to aDutch subscriber. Dutch police initially said they had no reason toinvestigate. No suspect had been identified when the mansurrendered at the police station in the village of Sneek, 60 milesnortheast of Amsterdam.
Police said they were almost certain he was the same person whoclaimed responsibility for the attack on an Internet site. OnTuesday, someone identifying himself as OnTheFLy, admittedspreading the virus as a warning to internet users to tightensecurity.
“I admit writing the virus,” the Feb. 13 letter read.
“I never wanted to harm the people [who] open the attachment.But after all it’s their own fault they got infected,” it said.
The virus arrives as an e-mail attachment named“AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs” and carries the message “Hi: CheckThis!” It promises to deliver a picture of the teen-age tennisstar, but does not actually contain a photo.
When the user clicks on the attachment, the virus is released,worming its way into address books and sending itself to everyoneon the list, clogging e-mail servers.
OnTheFly’s Public Message
In his letter, the alleged hacker described how he passed on thevirus. “I have made this virus with a Visual Basic Worm Generator,written by K Alamar. K. is NOT involved with this worm! I have beenusing this program because I don’t know any programminglanguages.”
The virus spread rapidly Monday, slowing down e-mail systems andforcing some companies to shut down e-mail altogether. Securityexperts said it does not permanently damage computers.
The outbreak was largely contained by Tuesday. The virus failedto infect as many computers in Asia as it did in Europe and theUnited States.
In the 1980s, hackers reportedly routed computer raids on U.S.government systems through the Netherlands to make tracing andprosecution difficult. At the time there was no law againstInternet crimes.
The Dutch set up a special unit of dozens of cyber detectives in1999, after adopting legislation that enabled them to fight onlinecrime.