Here’s an interesting conclusion to a fascinating case in Japan regarding the creator of a computer virus charged with destruction of property. According to the Daily Yomiuri 28-year-old Masato Nakatsuiji was sentenced to two years and six months in prison because of the damage caused by the ‘ika-tako’ (squid/octaputs) virus he created.
The distinction between what is ‘damage’ and what is not in this case is noteworthy, as the defense claimed that the hard disks were not physically damaged, but rather ‘temporarily unusable.’ The court asserted that the affected performance constituted damage as well as the data that was lost on infected computers.
The unusual (and somewhat humorous) ika-tako virus would replace user’s files with pictures of squid and octopi. You can see a video below showing exactly how the infection takes place.
Japan enacted a law criminalizing the creation and storing of computer viruses on July 14th. The first individual to be arrested under the new law was Yasuhiro Kawaguchi, a 38-year-old who authored a file that would infected victims computers using a file sharing program.
[Source: Mainichi, Photo: unimer.blog.fc2.com, DataProtectionCenter]
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