Minnesota high school senior Jeffrey Parson has pleaded guilty to releasing a variant of the Blaster/LovSan virus that crippled computer networks around the world in the summer of 2003.
Parson pleaded guilty to one charge of intentionally causing or attempting to cause damage to a protected computer, a change from his earlier not guilty plea, in federal court August 11. Prosecutors want to see Parson sentenced to 18-37 months behind bars, compared to the maximum ten years and $250,000 fine he'd have faced if convicted at trial.
Parson could still face an order to pay millions in restitution when he's sentenced November 2.
Early reports indicate that authorities said Parson admitted modifying the original Blaster – which made computers attack Microsoft's Website last summer – into his own variant, during interviews with the FBI and the Secret Service. He's been out of jail on a $25,000 bond and electronic home monitoring since his original indictment.
Parson has been taken off the home monitoring pending his sentencing, but he is under a court order not to leave his home except to go to work, unless supervised and pre-approved by the court, according to a published report.
