MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A suburban Minneapolis teenager is under arrest for unleashing the so-called Blaster worm that infected thousands of computers.
Jeffrey Lee Parson, 18, of Hopkins, Minn., was arrested by federal agents and seven computers were seized from his home Friday before a scheduled court appearance, according to broadcast reports.
The youth is accused of writing one version of the Blaster infection that disabled more than 500,000 computers worldwide, an official with the FBI told the Wall Street Journal.
According to the official, a witness reported having seen the teen testing the Blaster worm.
The Blaster worm, also known as "LoveSAN" and "MSBlast," had been designed to send a flood of messages beginning on Aug. 16 to Microsoft's Web site in an attempt to cripple the site.
Researchers found a message embedded in the worm's computer code addressed to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gate: "billy gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!"
