I was reading that Microsoft is offering $250,000 for information leading to the author of the Conficker virus. So, why would someone write such a thing and put themselves in the crosshairs of authorities? How does the author profit from this mess?
Worms aren't created by the likes of RTM(1) anymore; malware has been big business, and global, for quite a while now. Conficker was probably created by a professional malware engineer, or a team of them, working for somebody like the Russian Business Network(2)--and in a jurisdiction that makes legal prosecution difficult.
