A second person suspected of masterminding a variant of the MSBlast worm that nearly brought the internet to a standstill last month is being investigated. Police in Romania have questioned a 24 year-old man believed to be responsible for creating the “F” version of the MSBlast worm.
Under newly passed Romanian laws, the 24 year-old could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
The alleged virus creator was tracked down by Romanian police and anti-virus firm BitDefender, who followed a trail of evidence contained in the virus. The virus contained the author’s nickname “Enbiei” as well as insults directed at a lecturer at the Technical University of Iasi in northeast Romania.
The “F” version is not thought to have travelled far beyond Romania and was considered less virulent than the original MSBlast virus that infected more than 300,000 systems in August.
Last week a 19 year-old in Seattle was arrested for creating and releasing the “B” version of MSBLast. Jeffrey Lee Parson was tracked down and caught because he too left his online nickname in the version of the virus he modified. If convicted, Parson faces up to 10 years in jail and a fine of US$250,000.
By John Kennedy
