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Simon Vallor, a 22-year-old from Llandudno, Wales, was sentenced to two years in prison in January 2003 after pleading guilty to creating and distributing three computer viruses, according to a contemporaneous Network World report. Prosecutors said the viruses affected about 27,000 computers in more than 40 countries.
Who was Simon Vallor, and what was the sentence?
Network World reported on Jan. 22, 2003, that Vallor was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to two years in prison on three counts under section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990. The report says the counts concerned releasing a computer virus and that Vallor’s computers were seized.
The report says Vallor pleaded guilty in December 2002 to creating and distributing Gokar, Admirer and Redesi, then was released on bail pending sentencing. It is a contemporaneous news account rather than a court judgment or sentencing transcript; no primary court record is cited here.
What happened, and when?
- Feb. 14, 2002: Network World says Vallor was arrested after the FBI alerted Scotland Yard’s computer crime unit. The report’s phrase “last year” refers to 2002 because it was published in January 2003.
- December 2002: He pleaded guilty and was released on bail pending sentencing, according to the report.
- January 2003: Southwark Crown Court imposed the two-year prison sentence on three counts under section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
What did the three viruses do?
The 2003 report said all three spread through Microsoft Outlook address books. The virus descriptions below reflect that report’s account and comments from Graham Cluley, then a Sophos senior technology consultant; they are not independent technical analyses.
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| Virus | Behavior described in the report |
|---|---|
| Redesi | Described as the most destructive. The report said it was sent after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, disguised as a Microsoft patch to protect against terrorist virus attacks. It said opening the attachment would reformat the victim’s hard disk on Nov. 11. |
| Gokar | Described as the most widespread. The report said it had no destructive payload but attempted to overwrite a web server’s homepage. It also said Gokar appeared on Sophos’ top-ten list of most commonly reported viruses in late 2001 and early 2002. |
| Admirer | Described as a Valentine greeting that spread itself to others. |
How many computers were affected?
Prosecutors put the impact at about 27,000 computers in more than 40 countries, according to Network World. That is a figure attributed to prosecutors through the news report, not an independently validated measurement.
What did Vallor say about releasing the viruses?
Network World reported that Vallor told the court he released the viruses as an experiment to see whether they would spread back to him. The same article reported that, in a BBC interview, he said he had not thought they would spread. Those remarks are reported statements; this account does not rely on a checked court or interview transcript.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How was the case described at the time?
The report characterized Vallor’s case as only the second UK conviction for creating and spreading a computer virus at that time. That historical description was attributed to Cluley and should not be read as a current legal statistic. Cluley said the sentence sent “a strong message to other virus writers,” and described Vallor as “quite a technical writer” who “knew what he was doing.”
Network World also compared the sentence with other cases: it reported that Christopher Pile received 18 months in 1995 for spreading viruses, that Jan de Wit received 150 hours of community service for the Anna Kournikova worm, and that David Smith received a 20-month sentence in the United States for the Melissa virus. These were contemporary comparisons in the 2003 report, not evidence that the cases involved equivalent laws or circumstances.
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