Hmmm, I would have to do some research.  But Kevin Mitnick is the only
one who has ever done jail time that I know of.  David Smith wiggled out
of it, IIRC.  The Montreal teenager was under 18, so don't know what
happened to him.

And these are just the ones that you hear about......multiply them by
100 or more and that is how many are writing them.  No one knows where
this blasted MS Patch came from.......but it is probably the worst so
far inasmuch as it has screwed up both businesses and home computers and
lasted so long.  I think I just read somewhere that there are now
viruses targetting cell phones.   Sheesh!!

I haven't seen anything new on the antivirus n.g.........but that's how
it goes.  It is amazing to watch it when a big one like Lovebug or
Melissa hits and the antivirus companies in different countries and time
zones start reporting in as it hits.  It is like a huge wave rolling
around the world.

I find that a lot of them (like Bugbear) are aimed at the EST time so
that it hits just before Monday.  That hit my computer about 10 a.m.
that day.  And I never left it (even to eat) for some 6 hours as it
decimated my genealogy groups.  And as I am in their address books, I
stopped counting at 100 copies.

I keep my security high on OE and that kept me from being infected with
Bugbear.  But I usually pick out some distinguishing feature of each
virus and use that in a filter until the definitions come out.  Works
for me.  A phrase usually.

What is so nasty now is that the first thing these damn viruses (not
virii) do is disable your antivirus and your firewall and prevent you
from accessing an antivirus webpage......not nice!!  I keep my a-v
floppy up to date just in case.......and I do have another computer here
to download a fix if I ever should get nailed.

I had to do that for my next door neighbour when he got hit by
Blaster.......he sells main frame computers and did not have a working
antivirus, a firewall or a spyware program on his computer.......I could
not believe it!!!  And I also had to download a patch for him from
Microsoft which would have prevented it.  When I checked Windows Update
on his computer, he had never downloaded 70 patches and critical
updates!!!  He had a very sheepish look on his face when I got thru
cleaning up the mess.

If I hear of anyone responsible for Blaster, SoBig or this latest
one.....I will let you know.  The American teenager didn't author
Blaster, but he used it to make another variant.......a common practice
with these damned script kiddies.

Browser hijackers and spyware seem to be more prevalent these days.  But
maybe that is just the world I live in when not on here.  An MS MVP
friend in Perth, Australia has a good website on these things, but it is
a bit techie.  Another friend (Andrew) has a simpler explanation website
on spyware.....plus it checks your computer for it automatically as soon
as you land there.  On the left are just some of the spyware and
hijacker programs.....there are more out there.   Have a look if you
want and you will at least know whether or not you have a parasite.

http://doxdesk.com/parasite/

My email is heatherfig@rogers.com just in case you find you have a
critter on there.  They are NOT viruses.  But damn near as annoying.  I
get at least 5 spyware cookies landing on here every day.  But I use
AdAware6 and Spybot Search & Destroy to rid me of them.

Cheers....Heather (sorry for the epistle, but this is a passion of mine)