Comments on: Security firm looks to hire alleged Sasser author

German company Securepoint says teenager Sven Jaschan deserves a chance to prove himself on the up-and-up.

[Not Bugged]

NEVER, EVER HIRE A VIRUS WRITER

How clueless do these people have to be to hire a known writer of viruses? Don't they understand their actions encourage future virus writers who'll think to themselves "Aha, ole so and so got a cushy job after he was caught so if I get caught I can count on a nice job too".

In my opinion the writer of any virus ought to be limited to "Do you want fries with that?" as the highest possible pinnacle of their post-virus writing career.

Cybersecurity firms must stop this practice

How can customers of a security firm trust a firm that persists in hiring "reformed" black hats. How can one ever know if that person isn't simply a wolf in sheep's clothing? Security firms need professional standards akin to those adopted by accountants, professional engineers, etc. Credible, enforced ethical standards are needed. A convicted black hat should never be allowed to work in a security firm. Hiring these people rewards the bad behavior. Customers need to have a high level of assurance that cybersecurity firms are hiring trust-worthy people.

Hire Him, Pay US!

Speaking as a professional IT Manager.. The virus/worm cost at the least the sleep of the IT groups worrying, and on the other end... Sleepless nights cleaning systems and Billions of dollars lost of lost revenues. What does this say for other script kiddies... Do it up really good and get a good job!!! Come on, there are a lot of really good security/programming professionals out of work right now!!! Do the right thing, and send the kid up the river and DO NOT REWARD him for Billions of less revenues!!!

[Stan Kee]

Way to go kid

He's no worse than the rest. If anything he knows the key to success: criminal acts.

Enron
Worldcom/MCI
Tyco
Halliburton
POTUS

[jirohkanzaki]

VIRUS WRITERS AREN'T THAT GOOD

what the heck? ANYBODY with some knowledge about programming and networking can write a virus. Security though is a discipline that requires a lot knowledge and experience. A security company that hires a virus writer just tells you how clueless that company is about its own industry. Maybe they're just doing it for publicity but nobody should buy products from these companies since it will just spur more virus writers who don't have lives to create more havoc.

[Cr01D]

Let him make malicious code, to make money.

Let him create the malicious code for companys such as McAfee. He makes exploits and discovers faults in Windows, they patch it before the exploit is discovered by some other yuppie. Then again, people like him create more work/money for me in the future.