A suggestion to fight against virus and spyware
There are many reports and estimation about the trouble and loss due to virus and spyware. I do believe that some of these estimations are exaggerated. Of course, such problem has hurt the joy of going online and forced down the efficiency of working.
It is glad to find that legal system starts to punish those bad guys. However, after reading "Two years after author's arrest, Netsky worm still tops virus chart", it is certain that the damage is far exceed any such punishment could match.
Let's discuss the concept of punishment. It is certain that all punishment is not a kind of revenge. That had been employed in the old days. Besides repaying by losing one's freedom for what has been done, punishment serves as a warning to all others. Warning must be enforced, otherwise we shall continue to have such crimes in the future.
Most crimes ended with someone being hurt or even dead. The different levels of punishment have taken it into account. Death or life sentence is the highest punishment. Cases closed.
Virus and spyware are not traditional crimes; no one will be hurt physically. However, the damage will be continued even the author had been jailed or barred from any computers.
Sentence for a number of years cannot stop the damage, especially there are copycats and a few bad guys can continue to modify the codes and extending the threat to everyone for many years, if not forever.
Furthermore, with legal action comes to an end after verdict, there will be no more protection for all of us from the relevant virus etc. In other words, the legal system has failed to terminate the damage of such crime. If we shall have a hundred bad guys producing such virus, after they had been jailed and released some years after, we may have to face the hundred viruses for the rest of our lives. It would be unfair for all of us.
Therefore, I suggest that we have to change the punishment. Anyone who produces a virus should have the responsibility to clear it from the world. That means he/she has to spend whatever time is required to clear the virus until we have the report that their viruses are disappeared. The prison has to provide a room with Internet connection, they have to use their own computers and pay the accommodation too.
Since we already have a number of reports for active viruses, it is easy to select a few as watch lists. There will not be any cost at all.
How about the same virus disappeared for a short period before coming back? It depends on the law. If the punishment is effective whenever the virus exists, there is no need to go through any process again. That means if the same virus appears again, the guy will have to continue to work in jail again.
Due to the internationalization of such type of crime, it will be good for every country to act together. The punishment can be performed anywhere in the world. So the guy can choose where to serve his/her punishment, provided that he/she paid for the travelling.
Remember that such guys have good talent, it would be a waste to lock them up without application of their skill. We do not need to tell them what to do, they should know better than we do.
Whether my suggestion can be enforced remains unknown. It would be good to find a better way to deal with this type of crimes because Internet connection will continue forever.
(The original essay is published in my site, www.uscforesight.com/2006002ENG.htm, for Chinese Traditional Characters, cnt.uscforesight.com/2006002.htm and for Chinese Simplied Characters, cns.uscforesight.com/2006002CS.htm)
There are many reports and estimation about the trouble and loss due to virus and spyware. I do believe that some of these estimations are exaggerated. Of course, such problem has hurt the joy of going online and forced down the efficiency of working.
It is glad to find that legal system starts to punish those bad guys. However, after reading "Two years after author's arrest, Netsky worm still tops virus chart", it is certain that the damage is far exceed any such punishment could match.
Let's discuss the concept of punishment. It is certain that all punishment is not a kind of revenge. That had been employed in the old days. Besides repaying by losing one's freedom for what has been done, punishment serves as a warning to all others. Warning must be enforced, otherwise we shall continue to have such crimes in the future.
Most crimes ended with someone being hurt or even dead. The different levels of punishment have taken it into account. Death or life sentence is the highest punishment. Cases closed.
Virus and spyware are not traditional crimes; no one will be hurt physically. However, the damage will be continued even the author had been jailed or barred from any computers.
Sentence for a number of years cannot stop the damage, especially there are copycats and a few bad guys can continue to modify the codes and extending the threat to everyone for many years, if not forever.
Furthermore, with legal action comes to an end after verdict, there will be no more protection for all of us from the relevant virus etc. In other words, the legal system has failed to terminate the damage of such crime. If we shall have a hundred bad guys producing such virus, after they had been jailed and released some years after, we may have to face the hundred viruses for the rest of our lives. It would be unfair for all of us.
Therefore, I suggest that we have to change the punishment. Anyone who produces a virus should have the responsibility to clear it from the world. That means he/she has to spend whatever time is required to clear the virus until we have the report that their viruses are disappeared. The prison has to provide a room with Internet connection, they have to use their own computers and pay the accommodation too.
Since we already have a number of reports for active viruses, it is easy to select a few as watch lists. There will not be any cost at all.
How about the same virus disappeared for a short period before coming back? It depends on the law. If the punishment is effective whenever the virus exists, there is no need to go through any process again. That means if the same virus appears again, the guy will have to continue to work in jail again.
Due to the internationalization of such type of crime, it will be good for every country to act together. The punishment can be performed anywhere in the world. So the guy can choose where to serve his/her punishment, provided that he/she paid for the travelling.
Remember that such guys have good talent, it would be a waste to lock them up without application of their skill. We do not need to tell them what to do, they should know better than we do.
Whether my suggestion can be enforced remains unknown. It would be good to find a better way to deal with this type of crimes because Internet connection will continue forever.
(The original essay is published in my site, www.uscforesight.com/2006002ENG.htm, for Chinese Traditional Characters, cnt.uscforesight.com/2006002.htm and for Chinese Simplied Characters, cns.uscforesight.com/2006002CS.htm)
posted by F. H. Tong at 4:32 AM
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