Netherlands to prosecute 'Kournikova' worm author

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By Joris Evers

(IDG) -- The 20-year-old Dutchman who says he created and unleashed the so-called "Anna Kournikova" e-mail worm will be prosecuted, according to authorities in the Netherlands.

The man is charged with spreading data via a computer network with the intent to cause damage, a crime punishable by as many as four years in prison and a fine of about $38,770 in some Dutch courts. However, because the public prosecutor decided to try the case in a lower court, he faces a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment, up to 480 hours of civil service, and a fine.

"Trying the case before the lower court implies that the prosecutor feels that a higher punishment is unjustifiable," says Rieneke Kamminga, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office.

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The virus spread widely last February under the e-mail guise of an image of Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova. It infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide, according to antivirus software vendors.

The accused says he created the Kournikova worm with a so-called worm generator. After realizing what he had done, the virus author turned himself in to the police in his hometown of Sneek.

He was arrested, made a statement, and was released. Police confiscated the man's computer equipment and some poster-size photos of Anna Kournikova.

The self-proclaimed virus author will have to appear in court on September 12. It will be the first case against a computer virus creator ever tried in the Netherlands. It is common practice in the Netherlands not to name people who are accused of crimes.

Could Slight Damage Deter Conviction?

The e-mail worm didn't cause much damage, according to André Post, senior researcher at Symantec's Antivirus Research Center (SARC). The worm was programmed to replicate itself via the victim's address book and set the computer up to visit a Dutch Web site on a specific date.

"Kournikova caused some network congestion left and right, but no big system crashes. One or two companies did take preventive measures and shut down their e-mail systems. The material damage is minor," Post says.

The prosecutor's office also says it has no idea of the damage the 20-year-old Dutchman caused.

"We did not get any claims," Kamminga says. But the prosecutor's office is convinced it will get a conviction.

"We have an admitting defendant; that makes the prosecutor's job an easy one," Kamminga adds.

A conviction would be a rarity and won't deter virus writers, however, according to Post.

"I know of only three convicted virus writers worldwide: two in the U.S. and one in the U.K. A conviction in the Netherlands, as with the other ones, won't scare other virus writers," he says. Also, while the virus creator may acknowledge that he created the virus, the prosecutor may have trouble proving an intent to cause damage, Post adds.