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Suspected hacker may face extradition requests

 

May 9, 2000
Web posted at: 12:49 a.m. EDT (0449 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Philippines will have first crack at prosecuting the suspected hacker behind the 'Love Bug' invasion of computers around the world, but other countries, including the United States, are likely to seek extradition.

Philippine officials are considering charges under the Philippine Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998. The law written chiefly to fight credit card fraud but it also covers the use of any unauthorized access device in order to obtain goods or services, according to the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library.

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With stolen user names and passwords, the author of the virus could have gained access to a multitude of computers, making this law applicable.

The penalty could range between fines of 10,000 Filipino pesos or twice the value obtained by the offense, and anywhere from six to 20 years in prison, dependent upon the portion of the act under which a suspect is charged.

"Laws against general kinds of damage or forgery or theft sometimes have been used by states to cooperate with us in these kinds of investigations," said Martha Stansell-Gamm, chief of the computer crimes section at the U.S. Department of Justice.

A cyber law treaty?

But U.S. officials expect cooperation on the prosecution of international hackers to go farther and possibly include a cyber law treaty.

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"It is clear now that crime on the Internet, crime in terms of hacking, crime in terms of those that would use the medium the wrong way ..." will require "an international effort," said Attorney General Janet Reno.

George Clark, an expert on cyber law, said: "One of the things that people are trying to do is to get all countries which are using the Internet ... to have a law against this type of offense, so that you can have extradition, if necessary, if there is serious harm in one country."

The United States and the Philippines do have an extradition treaty which allows a suspect to be prosecuted in both countries. If the Justice Department wants the Love Bug suspect to face charges in the U.S., it will ask the State Department to seek his extradition under the treat.

Once in the United States, the suspect could face a felony charge under the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. "You have a potential sentence of five years and a large fine for each offense. That's not just the start-up of sending the virus, but that would be for each computer that was interfered with," said Clark.

And as the impact and cost of the Love Bug mount, there may be dozens of countries lining up to press charges against the accused Philippine hacker.

Senior Washington correspondent \Charles Bierbauer contributed to this report.



RELATED STORIES:
Internet provider says Caller ID foiled 'Love Bug' author
May 8, 2000
Clues lead to ILOVEYOU writer's older, cruder work
May 6, 2000
Authorities may be zeroing in on ILOVEYOU suspect
May 5, 2000
Copycat viruses following 'ILOVEYOU' computer bug are no joke
May 4, 2000
Government computers: The ultimate hackers' proving ground
March 23, 2000
'Melting Worm' slithers into the wild
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Viruses boom on the Net
January 18, 2000

RELATED SITES:
Federal Bureau of Investigation
F-Secure Web - Main index
   • F-Secure Virus Info Center
Symantec Worldwide Homepage
   • Symantec AntiVirus Research Center
Norman
National Infrastructure Protection Center
CERT Coordination Center
Trend Micro
Symantec
Network Associates


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