FBI closes in on MSBlast suspect
Published: 29 Aug 2003 11:25 BST
The US Attorney's Office in Seattle confirmed it would hold a news conference on Friday to discuss developments in the MSBlast worm virus investigation.
The US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington reported that US Attorney John McKay and representatives from the FBI would detail progress made in their investigation regarding the MSBlast computer virus at 1:30 p.m. (PST).
According to a story in today's Seattle Times, the FBI has identified an 18-year-old suspect who it believes to be involved with the spreading of the MSBlast worm virus that has at times crippled corporate computer networks. The report indicated that the FBI has already questioned the suspect and expects to have the individual in custody sometime this afternoon.
The Seattle Times reported that the FBI suspect is thought to be responsible for altering the MSBlast worm from its original form into the more destructive "B-variant." Federal prosecutors plan to try the individual as an adult, according to the story. Earlier this week, FBI Director Robert Mueller said that his organisation was working alongside the Department of Homeland Security and with state and local law enforcement cybertask forces to track down potential suspects.
The MSBlast worm attacks computers equipped with Microsoft's Windows software via a hole in the operating system. For its part, Microsoft first warned people about the dangerous potential of the virus on 16 July. Windows users have been battling the destructive worm, also known as W32/Blaster and W32.Lovsan, since 11 August, when the virus first began spreading via email attachments.
In just 24 hours, MSBlast turned up on an estimated 120,000 computers around the world, despite being thought of as a relatively crudely programmed virus. A major catalyst in the rapid spread of the worm was the fact that many home users and corporate IT departments had yet to implement a patch protecting against the virus made available by Microsoft in July.
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