Microsoft offers $500,000 web virus bounty
Microsoft Corp has offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the authors of the devastating MSBlast and Sobig computer viruses.
The corporation is offering a $250,000 bounty apiece for the writers of the viruses, two of the costliest computer bugs to hit cyberspace.
The bugs travelled around the globe during August and September this year, wreaking havoc by attacking computers operating on Microsoft’s Windows system.
Microsoft officials, accompanied by US and international law-enforcement groups, announced the rewards at a press conference.
The trail for the culprits has reportedly run cold and the cash is seen as a way of generating new information.
Computer experts believe that Blaster, also known as MSBlast or LovSan, was written to impress a girl, possibly named ‘San’, while Sobig is thought to be the work of a group or organisation, because of its connection with spamming.
Both bugs infected hundreds of thousands of PCs and networks around the world, crashing systems and causing massive repair bills for companies.
