European virus writer sentenced to prison

Posted on 12 Apr 2005 at 12:55

A 39-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 months in a Milan court and fined €3,000 for writing the Voltan virus.

Considering that the accused is thought to have made €104,000 from the premium rate numbers that infected computers made, the sentence may be considered light. The author, who lives in Venezuela, does not have a criminal record. This, together with his co-operation with the court earned him a reduced sentence.

However, the decision itself sets a precedent: it is the first of its kind for this type of crime, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

The man was caught when he returned to Italy to organise an increase in the premium rate lines the virus was using. It seems that the after the swindle was discovered, telecom providers cancelled the debts incurred by the virus. However, it is unclear whether the man was ordered to return the €104,000 he made.

Voltan was discovered in October 2003 and is thought to have infected thousands of computers.

It arrived as an email (in Italian) directing the recipient to a website where a screensaver could be downloaded. The screensaver contained a copy of the virus which set up dialler accounts to premium rate numbers.

The virus racked up 57,000 minutes on these lines in the first three days. The authorities predicted that had the worm continued unchecked, it would have netted the man €1,200,000 a month.

Italian police are also investigating a 30-year-old man from Bologna, thought to be behind a variant of the Russian Veirika virus. He will be tried in July.

Author: Matt Whipp

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