Virus Bounties No Longer Effective
Paying bounties to track down and prosecute writers of computer worms no longer works, according to security experts at Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has stated, however, that it expects to continue the reward program that helped to convict Sven Jaschan, the author of the Sasser and Netsky worms. Symantec believes that the shift is a result of the changing hacking landscape. Worms and viruses are increasingly used for identity theft or to create zombie PCs used to launch distributed denial of service attacks or send spam.
Microsoft recently paid US$250,000 to two individuals for information that led to the arrest and conviction of Jaschan. The German teenager wrote the Sasser and Netsky worms that caused billions of dollars worth of damage worldwide.
The reward was considered instrumental in Jaschan's arrest. Microsoft launched the program in 2003 and Jaschan's was the first case closed as a result of the initiative.
