Fujacks/Panda virus authors sentenced, offered job


Fujacks author put away for four years.

Four men who were charged last month with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks virus and worm (a.k.a. the ‘Panda burning joss-sticks’ virus) have been sentenced in a Chinese court, with the self-confessed author of the virus being sent to prison for four years.

But 25-year-old lead programmer Li Jun, won’t be feeling too down in the dumps if reports in the Changjiang Times and Shanghai Daily are anything to go by. According to the newspapers, a network company in eastern China has offered Jun a $133,000+ job. Jushu Technology Co. is reported to have said that it wants Jun to become its technology director, telling the Changjiang Times that ‘the company can offer a good platform to show his talents.’ The story in the Shanghai Daily is

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‘The Chinese authorities should be applauded for taking action against these four men, but reports of Li Jun being offered a job are extremely disappointing. Through his actions, Li Jun has caused widespread damage and disruption to computer systems and innocent users – and one has to question the ethics of any company that actively seeks such a criminal for its workforce,’ said Helen Martin, Editor of Virus Bulletin. ‘It is with great disappointment that we see Jun being hailed as some sort of talented genius when in reality he is little more than a thief, fraudster and vandal .’

The W32/Fujacks family of viruses and worms first appeared late last year and began garnering public attention in January thanks largely to considerable hype by the Chinese media, which dubbed the outbreak a ‘four-star virus’ and a ‘top computer killer’. However, more considered analysis showed that levels of infection were rather low.

Posted on 26 September 2007 by

Virus Bulletin


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