SUMMARY:

ILOVEYOU was a computer virus that infected and destroyed many hard drives
across the world, especially the U.S. It was first discovered on May 5, 2000. The
malware originated in the Pandacan neighborhood of Manila in the Philippines,
thereafter following daybreak westward across the world, moving first to Hong Kong,
then to Europe, and finally the United States. The outbreak was later estimated to have
caused US$5.58.7 billion in damages worldwide, and estimated to cost US$15 billion
to remove the worm.[6] Within ten days, over fifty million infections had been reported,
and it is estimated that 10% of internet-connected computers in the world had been
affected.

The ILOVEYOU virus was also known as the Love Letter virus. The virus
spread itself through taking advantage of a flaw in many Windows computers; the fact
that file extensions were hidden by default. The file itself is named LOVE-LETTER-
FOR-YOU.TXT to trick people into thinking it was a harmless. Txt file. Its hidden
extension, however, was .vbs, which is very similar to exe. The ILOVEYOU Script (the
attachment) was written in Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting (VBS) which runs
in Microsoft Outlook and was enabled by default. The script added Windows
Registry data for automatic startup on system boot.

The worm then searched connected drives and replaced files with
extensions JPG, JPEG, VBS, VBE, JS, JSE, CSS, WSH, SCT, DOC, HTA, MP2,
and MP3 with copies of itself, while appending the additional file extension VBS, making
the user's computer unbootable. However, MP3s and other sound related files were
hidden rather than overwritten.

The worm propagated itself by sending out one copy of the payload to each entry
in the Microsoft Outlook address book (Windows Address Book). It also downloaded the
Barok trojan renamed for the occasion as "WIN-BUGSFIX.EXE".

It would spread itself through your email once your computer was infected and
send this message to your address book, along with the virus attached:

SUBJECT: ILOVEYOU

BODY: kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me.

ATTACHMENT: LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs

The creators were two young Filipino computer programmers named Reonel
Ramoes and Onel de Guzman. After surveillance and investigation by Darwin
Bawasanta of Sky Internet, the NBI traced a frequently appearing telephone number to
Ramones' apartment in Manila. His residence was searched and Ramones was
arrested and placed on inquest investigation before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Onel de Guzman was likewise charged in absentia.

To show intent, the NBI investigated AMA Computer College, where de Guzman
had dropped out at the very end of his final year. They found that, for his undergraduate
thesis, de Guzman had proposed the implementation of a Trojan to steal Internet login
passwords. This way, he proposed, users would finally be able to afford an Internet
connection. The proposal was rejected by the College of Computer Studies board,
prompting de Guzman to cancel his studies the day before graduation.

Guzman did not face any charges for the creation of the virus on two accounts:

1. There was insufficient evidence against him.

2. There werent any strong computer crime laws in Philippines at that time.

To address this legislative deficiency, the Philippine Congress enacted Republic Act No.
8792, otherwise known as the E-Commerce Law, in July 2000, just two months after the
worm outbreak. In 2002, the ILOVEYOU virus obtained a world record for being the
most virulent computer virus at the time.