Community poll forum: What punishment should be handed down to virus creators?

Cut off their fingers

I think they should be fined an amount based on their income. The worse the threat the higer the fine, the richer they are the larger the fine.

take all computer priviledges away by having offenders wear an ankle or wrist band that will trigger a signal to their probation officer when they are using any computer

Depends on how extensive a virus it is . The really bad ones should get a minimum of ten years with no chance for paroles.

P.S Those folks in the 1 % category on your poll also need some attention too--hard to belive people are that dumb.

These guys should be sent to prison. But what usually happens is they end up working for the AV companies and worse yet the government and law enforcement agencies.

Perhaps I'm either naive or not mean spirited but I've never understood exactly what 'kick' one gets out of creating - and spreading - a virus.

Are virus creators psycho/sadistic societal vermin ... or something else?

Hacking I can, to some extent, understand. A challenge, a puzzle. But I see absolutely nothing fun, challenging, or rewarding by creating a virus.

What am I not understanding?

Publish their full name and address on the internet.

Prison!!!
Min. 5 yrs. till virus is eradicated.

One to two years improsonment I feel is appropiate. They cause untold hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars worth of damage to home, office, corporate, and government IT systems. Countless lives would be in peril if they infected a hospital IT system, or, even more wore, if their actions disabled a major power grid. Viruses aren't funny.In my opinion they are terroristic acts, plain and simple.

These indivduals ought be taken to Iraq, fitted with large, heavy boots and sent out stomping in suspected mine fields. I say suspected, so much stomping could be carried on without effect, creating a sense of well being in the mind of the perpetrator as he/she ventures forth not knowing whether the next stomp will be the one that creates the unwanted havoc devastating any plans they may have. Or, they should be hit with a stick.... a big one.

Virus writers have created havoc, not just to home users, but to corporate users. The expense of fixing virus issues is passed down to consumers and shareholders of businesses affected. It can also be costly for personal home users, who know little about how their pcs work. This is a serious offense, and should not be handled lightly.

I believe virus writers contain a personality defect that causes them to gain quite a bit of satisfaction when their virus programs cause damage. For that reason, some sort of rehabilitation should take place for them while incarcerated, so that they can use their skills positively, for the greater good, when they are released.

What I think they should do is, bring the sorry excuse for a human to your house, tied up, mouth duct taped, eye lids forced to stay open and strapped to a chair. They are then forced to sit there for hours as some try to find help to fix this problem that they created in the first place. Let them listen to the screaming kids that many of us have as we try to do our jobs in between fixing their little joke. Also, since they can't eat for long periods of time from the duct tape on their mouths, we have a big plate of cheese burgers in front of us with a nice icy pop, as we fix their problem. They will be forced to watch as we slop down 4 cheese burgers, and enjoy our pop while they sit watching us do so, and fixing their problem. Never mind it may take days since many have to actually work for a living and that they can't tell us how to fix it since they will be mouth taped, and tied up. Also since they can't close their eyelids, perhaps they would make great watchmen at night, staring at the monitor to see if anyone magically fixes our pc for us. Did I mention give the kids some sticks maybe, or silly string and have them play beat the virus maker? You know, this would be a great oportunity to take the little one with a dirty diaper and set them on the slime's lap while you try and fix your pc. You know when you get so mad and you say, boy if this person was in front of me right now!! Well, here's your chance! Also, a cattle prod may be handy for every time we see the word virus, we get to use it on the slime as a reminder of what they have done. Then if all gets fixed properly, you can then send them to the next person for whom they almost destroyed their OS yet again

Paul

If I were a judge I would sentence them to prison for 10 years, hard labor, then put on parole for life. And I would ban them from ever owning or operating a computer for the rest of their life.

Just say that they should be forced to, in extremely uncomfortable accomodations, to fix every puter that has ever been affected by a virus, and pay everyone a heafty fine, in either money or blood, who has had to spend money, time and frustration of installing anti-virus progs.

I belive there is no pranks or just fun in making them and sending them all over the world. so jail time equal to how many companys and home computers is a fair time in jail. say a month for each computer infected.