I LOVE YOU VIRUS

I LOVE YOU Virus appears through internet after Melissa in May 4 of 2000. It originated from the Philippines and was speculated that the virus was programmed by Onel de Guzman. It travels via internet by e-mail with a form of a love letter from a secret admirer. The e-mail has an attachment that carries the virus titled “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs”. The VBS ( Visual Basic Scripting) extension pointed out as the language used to create the worm.

The ILOVEYOU virus had a wide range of attacks, it could:

• Copy itself several times and hide copies in several folders on the victims hard disk drive.
• Add new files to the victims registry.
• Replace several different kinds of files with copies of itself.
• Send itself through Internet Chat programs and e-mail.
• Downloaded and execute a password-stealing application file called WIN-BUGSFIX.EXE. The application then sent private data to the hacker.

According to some, the damages estimate $5.5 to $10 billion. At the time, the Filipino authorities had no computer espionage or sabotage laws, so tried de Guzman on charges of theft.

Citing a lack of evidence, the Filipino authorities eventually dropped the charges against de Guzman, who would neither confirm nor deny his responsibility for the virus.