Sasser worm hired by computer security firm

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A German teenager accused of creating the Sasser worm that infected millions of computers around the world is being taught to become a security software programmer, the company that hired him said.

Eighteen-year-old Sven Jaschan has been taken on by the Securepoint computer firm based in Lueneburg, northern Germany and is being trained to make firewalls, which stop suspect files from entering computer systems.

"He has a certain know-how in this field," a company spokesman said.

Jaschan has been charged with computer sabotage, data manipulation and disruption of public systems for allegedly hatching the Sasser worm.

The Sasser worm struck on May 1, and in less than a week affected thousands of companies and as many as 18 million computers worldwide, forcing some businesses to shut temporarily in order to debug their systems.

Securepoint director Lutz Hausmann said the teenager had told him during a job interview that he only became really aware of the consequences of his actions after it was too late.

"He deserves a chance," Hausmann said.

German authorities believe Jaschan may also be behind another destructive worm named NetSky, which surfaced in February.

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