US teenager pleads guilty in Blaster worm attack

A Minnesota teenager pleaded guilty to unleashing a variant of "Blaster" Internet worm, which crippled over 1 mn PCs last year.

By: ASSOCIATED PRESS
| Updated on: Aug 12 2004, 18:19 IST

A Minnesota high school senior pleaded guilty in federal court to unleashing a variant of the 'Blaster' Internet worm, which crippled more than a million computers last summer.

Jeffrey Lee Parson, 19, of Hopkins, Minnesota, is likely to face 18 months to three years behind bars after pleading guilty on Wednesday to one count of intentionally causing or attempting to cause damage to a protected computer.

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He also could be ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution, Assistant US Attorney Annette Hayes said.

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Parson had pleaded not guilty after his arrest last August, but told US District Judge Marsha Pechman on Wednesday: 'I downloaded the original Blaster worm, modified it and sent it back out on the Internet.'

Different versions of the Blaster worm, also known as the LovSan virus, crippled computer networks worldwide last summer.

Parson's variant launched a distributed denial-of-service attack against a Microsoft Corp Windows update Website as well as personal computers. The government estimates Parson's version alone inundated more than 48,000 computers.

Parson was charged last August because Microsoft is based in suburban Redmond.

Parson is scheduled to be sentenced on November 2; prosecutors have recommended 18 to 37 months behind bars.

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First Published Date: 12 Aug, 11:48 IST
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