Teenage Blaster Worm Creator Suspect Named

Media reports from the US have named the 18 year-old suspected of writing and releasing a variant of the Blaster worm as Jeffrey Lee Parson from Minnesota.

Parson, who is known online as ‘Teekid’, is due to appear in court today at 2pm CDT (8pm BST) in St Paul, Minnesota. This follows a FBI investigation following a tip off that Parson had been testing a virus, based on the original and damaging Blaster-A worm. The FBI has reportedly seized seven computers from Parson’s home.

“The FBI has been quick to take action in this case – the first variant of Blaster was only seen on 13 August,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant, Sophos Anti-Virus. “Not only is this speed of action reassuring to businesses, which are seriously inconvenienced by computer viruses, it also sends a strong message to would be virus writers who can now expect to be tracked down and quickly brought to book over their actions.”