Tegam also expressed anger at the way that the media has portrayed the case, saying that the company is not trying to “impede freedom of speech” or “obstruct research projects.”

Upon hearing about the lawsuit, Tena said he removed all comments about Viguard from his website.

Tena explained that being pegged as a terrorist was a frightening concept, in the wake of post-Sept. 11 accusations. It was eerie, he said, that his trial was conducted right next door to an actual terrorism case.

“This case is especially important for the future of computer security,” Tena said. “If they don’t allow people like me to conduct research in this manner, hackers will find a way to find the same things I am finding but actually use it.”

Dotan said he is confident that Tegam will prevail in the case.

“[Tena] is in a bad position and he knows it,” he said.

He also expressed anger at Harvard’s apparent inability to detect Tena’s software testing activity, which he conducted on the University’s computer network.

Tena has been sued for 900,000 euros—about $1.2 million—on top of 6,000 euros in fines, but he said that the company will never receive that amount from him.

Tena said that he does appreciate some of the positive response he has been receiving.

“I recently received $50 from someone in Germany who thinks that I am in an unfair situation,” he said.

Tena says that he is still going to remain firm throughout the case.

“I’m kind of pessimistic. It’s so easy to impress judges with heavily connoted words like ‘virus,’ ‘pirate,’ ‘terrorist,’ ‘hacker’ and it’s difficult on the other hand to explain the scientific method and the deep curiosity that makes us analyze how software works and find their flaws,” Tena wrote last March on his website.

Tena, who studies the immune systems of plants, said that “fooling around” with computers has always been a hobby, and that detecting ways to fight bugs in biological research is similar to finding bugs in computer programs.

“Though there are certainly many differences between the fields, it’s an interesting intellectual thought experiment to connect the two concepts,” he said.

Tena, who was born and raised in Montpellier, France, said the complaint filed against him has been an especially intimidating experience because he is in the United States on a work visa.

—Staff writer Nicole B. Urken can be reached at urken@fas.harvard.edu.