Stepping up its battle against computer viruses and worms, Microsoft has established a $5 million fund to pay rewards for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for releasing malicious code, the company said.

The first bounties set in the "Anti-Virus Reward Program" are two $250,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the creators of the Blaster and Sobig worms, Microsoft said in a statement.

Both Blaster and Sobig attacked systems running Microsoft's Windows operating system and wreaked havoc in August.

Worms and viruses are "criminal attacks" on everyone who uses the Internet, Brad Smith, senior vice president and general counsel at Microsoft said in the statement.

Although arrests were made in connection with two variants of the Blaster worm, those responsible for the original remain at large. No arrests have been made in connection with the Sobig worm, which was first detected in January.

"Hopefully, people will see this reward announcement as reason to come forward when they have information. The more information that people can provide to law enforcement, the more likely we will have an arrest and a conviction for a malicious code launcher," said Hemanshu Nigam, a Microsoft corporate attorney.

The bounties are also meant to deter virus and worm writers planning to unleash malicious code. "I hope that the next person who wants to launch a virus is sitting there and thinking twice because there now are more reasons they may be arrested and convicted," Nigam said.

Microsoft announced the reward fund Wednesday at a news conference in Washington, D.C., together with representatives of the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and Interpol. Those agencies investigate cybercrime. Information about the any worms or viruses should go to them, Microsoft said.

Patrick Gray, a director at Internet Security Systems Inc. and former cybercrime fighter at the FBI, applauded the creation of the reward program. "It is unique and fresh in the cyberarena, while it is old hat in the physical world. We have been putting out bounties and rewards for hundreds of years and they have worked," he said.

The bounties put a spotlight on virus and worm creators and may lead to more arrests as members of the virus-writing community might start ratting on each other, Gray said. "If I can get $250,000 from Microsoft for turning in a fellow hacker, I will do it. I don't think there is much honor among thieves," he said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.

Whitepapers

• Gene Kim's Practical Steps to Mitigate Virtualization Security Risks
• Selecting Effective Virtual Directories
• A Modern Approach to On-Demand Email and Data Security
• Best Practices for HP Servers and HP Enterprise Virtual Array in a Microsoft Exchange
• Compliance, Protection, Recovery: A Layered Approach to Laptop Security
• Endpoint Security: Data Protection for IT, Freedom for Laptop Users

View more SECURITY whitepapers

Webcasts

• Key Considerations for a Successful 802.11n Deployment
• Solutions to the Toughest IT Challenges in Remote Offices
• Lowering the Cost of Email Archives
• High Availability for SQL Server 2005 Using Array-Based Replication and Host-Based Mirroring Technologies
• Technical Overview of Exchange Server 2007 with HP Servers and Storage
• Bringing Order and Security to your Mobile Workforce: Corporate Mobility Policy and Device Management On-Demand

View more SECURITY webcasts

Special Reports

• The Evolution of Network Security
• Taking Virtualization Up a Notch
• Learn how to Keep your Mobile Workforce Connected
• The self-managed network

View more SECURITY special reports