What Is The First Computer Virus In The Philippines? “ILOVEYOU” Virus

Like other countries, the Philippines is also not safe from cyber threats. In the country’s digital landscape, computer viruses play an important role. One of the most destructive computer viruses from cybersecurity with the disreputable is the “ILOVEYOU” malware virus. On May 5, 2000, it made the first impression and quickly spread globally.

This virus affects millions of computer systems all over the world. This malware started disturbing many people during the use of their computers. In this article, we will discuss what is the first computer virus in the Philippines and its impacts on cyberattacks and cybersecurity.

What is the ILOVEYOU Malware Virus?

The “ILOVEYOU” virus is also famous for the names “Love Letter” and “Love Bug”. On May 5, 2000, an attachment spread through email messages. The subject line of this attachment is “ILOVEYOU” (LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs). This malware virus affects more than 10 Million Windows.

When people see this mail and click on it, the virus enters their computer system and infects it. it starts sending copies of many document files and images. Moreover, it also stole the personal information of users such as their log in and credential information. People still want to know more about what is the first computer virus in the Philippines.

Who created this Virus?

A computer programmer “Onel De Guzman ‘ is the founder of the “ILOVEYOU” virus. He created this computer virus just to steal other users’ window passwords to get access to their internet connection. Also, he wants to use the internet to avoid paying bills. He just tries to reduce his internet bill by getting access to other internet connections.

Moreover, Onel De Guzman also defined this computer in his undergraduate thesis during his degree at “AMA Computer College’. He also clarified he didn’t steal any data; the use of internet access is a human right. While designing this, he didn’t have any idea that this virus had spread all over the world.

Impacts of the ILOVEYOU virus in the Philippines:

A lot of companies such as the British Parliament, The CIA, The Pentagon, and other huge corporations shut down their mailing system to protect themselves. This virus started in Hong Kong, then reached Europe, and at last in the United States, and left many of the computer systems affected.

Global and Local Impacts:

This virus is not just spread in the Philippines but it also spreads all over the world quickly. All the government, individuals, institutes, and businesses are disturbed because of this virus in the Philippines. This virus affects their system and results in a huge loss of their financial and personal data information.

Damage and Data loss:

This Philippines virus affects millions of computers worldwide. The estimation of damage is about $5.5 to $8.7 Billion globally. Within 10 days, this virus affected more than 50 Million computers. 10% of the internet users out of 100% are affected. Moreover, to remove this virus the cost comes to almost about $10 to $15 Billion.

Cybersecurity Lesson:

After that incident, people became more cautious and afraid to open any of the unauthorized and unknown mail they received from anyone. All the organizations and institutes are also alert and attentive to this type of situation because they didn’t know about any virus or what is the first computer virus in the Philippines.

ILOVEYOU Virus – How Does It Operate?

At first, it spread through an email attachment. People receive an email and after clicking on it the malware enters their system and starts stealing their data. Let’s read all the details of how this virus works.

Spread through Email: This virus starts propagation through email. The subject line of this email is “ILOVEYOU” and inside the mail, there is a message with a line that says “Kindly open the love letter that is for you.

Attachment: The attachment has a file “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs”. At that time, the file was hidden by using a default window system and didn’t appear first.

Spreading copies: Once you click on it. It starts sending copies to itself automatically. Moreover, the window registry is always adjusted, so it can run by itself whenever your system starts. It can send the same virus file to the target’s Microsoft Outlook Address book.

Password Stealing: Along with disturbing computer systems, this virus also steals target victims passwords. This virus finds the username and their passwords. After finding this information, it sends it to a particular email.

Effecting: As anyone clicks on the attached file, the code behind the file starts working and executing. This code has many malicious actions such as it downloads by itself in your system. You can find its file name “MSKernel124.vbs”. Moreover, it can also hide itself so you cannot find it easily.

Overwriting Payload: It payloads many types of files on the target computer system along with copies that have an extension of .jpeg, .js, .vbs, .wsh, .css, .jpg, .sct. and many more file extensions.

Receiver Curiosity: The subject line of the mail was like someone trying to express their feeling and emotions. So, when anyone receives the email they open it. but as a result, they face a huge loss of their data.

NBI Investigation Against Virus Inventor:

When a “Local Internet Service Provider” reports that they get many of the contact files from a European computer. Then the Philippines agents start an investigation against criminals. Onel de Guzman, a young programmer is arrested in this investigation. The National Bureau of Investigation found many telephone numbers in his apartment.

The European computer claims that it receives a lot of files that contain malware from the ISP’s server. Onel de Guzman hides all the shreds of evidence from his apartment but unlucky he leaves some of the disk that has all the information regarding the virus. He was arrested and taken to the investigation by the “Department of Justice”.

Did the government file a case against the virus’s inventor?

No, the government and authorities did not take any legal action against Onel de Guzman. Some suggest that they charge with the “Access Device Regulation Act” and
“Act 8484”. Moreover, some of them also suggest the charge apply to them regarding “Malicious Mischief”.

The reason is that, at that time, there was no type of punishment in place for this type of crime. That’s why not any establishments and specialists press charges on the virus inventor. However, this incident increases awareness in all the organizations and institutes.

Final Thoughts:

In the history of cyberattacks and cybersecurity, the ILOVEYOU virus left an irreparable mark in the Philippines. This virus affects millions of computers from all over the world within 24 hours. This virus has a subject line and in a mail body, it has a file that is attached to it.

when people click on it the malware automatically enters into their system. After getting access to the system, it starts finding the user’s information such as usernames and passwords that are saved in their system. After collecting the data, it sends this information to a specific ID.

Now, you might know about what is the first computer virus in the Philippines. The inventor of this virus, Onel de Guzman, was arrested by the NBI but at that time, there was no law for this type of crime. So, he didn’t face any type of legal action. However, the removal costs of this virus are about $10 to $15 Billion.

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