05:36 PM MST on Friday, August 29, 2003

CNN Report

An 18-year-old high school student suspected of creating a version of the virulent "Blaster" Internet attack was described by a neighbor Friday as "a computer genius," but not a criminal.

Federal agents arrested Jeffrey Lee Parson of Hopkins, a suburb of Minneapolis, on Friday morning on one count of intentionally causing or attempting to cause damage to a computer.

Parson, described as 6-feet-4-inches tall and 320 pounds, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Susan Nelson in St. Paul Friday afternoon. She ordered him held under house arrest and forbid him from using his computer or the Internet. His next court hearing is scheduled for September 17 in Seattle, Washington.

"He's smart on the computer, but I cannot believe he was doing any hacking," neighbor Bill McKittrick told the Associated Press.

Court papers show federal agents searched Parson's home August 19 and seized seven computers. During an interview with an FBI agent, court papers say Parson admitted to changing the original "Blaster'' worm and creating the "Blaster.B" version.

Widespread worm

The damaging viruslike infection, known as "Blaster," LovSan" and "MSBlast," was unleashed on the Internet weeks ago. Some experts said it has infected more than 500,000 computers across the globe and has quickly become one of the most widespread computer worms this year.

"It's definitely been one of the top worms we have seen," said Steven Sundermeier of anti-virus vendor Central Command. "It's been a huge nuisance. Because of the traffic it generates, it brings networks down."

The virus, which does not damage data or programs, simply replicates itself repeatedly, eating up computer capacity. Computer security experts say worms can spread quietly and rapidly because they often don't arrive as e-mail attachments, making it more difficult for computer users to take note of the infection.

Court documents allege that Parson's version of the worm infected at least 7,000 computers. Investigators say they were able to track him down after interviewing the person who hosted Parson's site, t33kid.com. The site, which the FBI says used to list the code for at least one virus, appeared to contain no content Friday.

"Parson caused significant damage, without authorization, to Microsoft and other victim computers that significantly exceeds $5,000," the FBI complaint states.

All versions of the fast-spreading Blaster took advantage of a flaw in Microsoft Corp.'s popular Windows software. Experts urged computer users to install a free patch offered on Microsoft's site after the software giant acknowledged the vulnerability July 16.

Downloading the patch

While Microsoft said about 40 million users downloaded the patch in the first two weeks in August alone, millions more failed to do so, leaving an opening for the worm to keep replicating.

The infection prompted computers to reboot frequently, brought down networks and disrupted users' Internet browsing. It also left behind a love note on infected PCs: "I just want to say LOVE YOU SAN!"

Investigators also found another message hidden inside the worm apparently aimed at Microsoft founder Bill Gates: "Billy gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!"

Security experts urged computer users to protect themselves by:

• Installing patches offered by Microsoft and other software vendors.

• Running anti-virus software.

• Setting up firewalls to stop attackers from breaking in.

"It's important for the consumer to understand that when you plug into the Internet, there's no one there to protect you," said Chris Ruland of Internet Security Systems. "You're responsible for protecting yourself."

This article courtesy of CNN.