Throughout history, we have seen different types of viruses that have caused real havoc. Some are well known for their infectious power, generating a lot of problems. One of the most destructive was ILOVEYOU virusalso known as the Love Bug or Loveletter, which infected more than 10 million computers in one week.
Currently, antiviruses like Windows Defender, natively integrated into Microsoft operating systems, protect against different viruses and malware. Remember that email systems like Gmail or Outlook include tools that scan files. But these are recent elements that did not exist a little over two decades ago and browsing was very dangerous. In addition, it was common for you to receive all kinds of spam, absurd chains and documents of all kinds by email. Thanks to all this lack of prolific control, the most dangerous virus in history.
How the ILOVEYOU virus worked and what it did
Let’s go back to the early 2000s, a rather turbulent time. You probably remember the so-called “Y2K effect,” which ultimately did not cause any problems. Shortly after, the world would be faced with one of the most destructive computer viruses in history.
Its creator was a Filipino computer engineering student named Onel de Guzmán. The idea I had was not that it would spread massively, but an error in the code would have made it spread in a simple way. Two reasons would have led Onel to create this virus. First, he had difficulty paying for Internet access and it was a way to demonstrate that it should be a free resource and accessible to all. In addition, it seems that it was also the final project of his studies.
The ILOVEYOU virus has been characterized as a worm that has infected more than 10 million computers worldwide with Windows operating systems. The most interesting thing is that most of the infections occurred in just one week. Furthermore, it is estimated that the damages generated by this malware amount to no less than 10 billion dollars.
It arrived in an email with the subject “ILOVEYOU” (hence the name). Inside the email was an attachment titled “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs”. When the user opened the attached file, the worm was released, which automatically executed and replicated itself. What it did was send itself to the entire address book in a simple way.
Due to its replication and propagation mechanism, it generates a large number of problems, such as:
- It generated a huge amount of traffic by replicating itself across the entire address book, which created an overload on the networks, making it difficult to access the Internet and even causing servers to crash due to the high traffic.
- Not only did it reproduce itself, but it also had the ability to delete important operating system files such as desktop background images and other files that were essential for the smooth functioning of the system.
- It overwrote users’ personal files, damaging them and making them completely inaccessible.
Faced with all these problems, cybersecurity experts have been working around the clock to develop tools that can combat this worm. The media has even reported on the problem, stressing the importance of not opening email attachments from unknown users.
The ILOVEYOU virus is considered one of the most destructive in history. In addition, it is one of those that spread the fastest and caused the most damage.
But what were the consequences for Onel de Guzman? Well… NONE. At the time, the Philippines did not have laws against cybercrime, like many other countries. Something that meant he was not prosecuted for his actions. Years later, de Guzmán expressed regret for the damage caused and reaffirmed that he had never intended to cause so much trouble.
