When the recipient curiously opened this attached file, a seemingly innocuous text file would be opened, actually running an executable file which released the Love Bug worm. The curiously entitled email successfully enticed millions of users into opening the attachment, assuming it was safe as the email typically appeared to be from a friend or colleague, ensuring the propagation of the worm.
Furthermore, at this point in time people were far less likely to have appropriate anti-virus software installed on their computers and were generally less aware of the warning signs of such cyber attacks. It was quickly established that the message had originated in Manila in the Philippines. After scrutinising the code, which was entirely visible due to it being written in Visual Basic, it became clear that data sent by the worm was being forwarded to two Filipino email addresses.
This is just a scrunched down wiki page with a clickbait title. Follow us facebook twitter instagram youtube. Search Search for: Search. Photo credit: BBC. More From NoypiGeeks Android apps you should delete before they can steal your money BEWARE: 10 million Android users became victims of money-stealing apps from the Play Store FluBot malware tricks Android users into installing fake security updates Vultur Android malware steals banking data by screen recording, sharing Discord platform is becoming a malware cesspool — Sophos Are you a target of the Pegasus spyware?
Use this tool to find out. Soon, the cameras packed up, the news crews left, and the story slipped off the agenda. Buen denied having anything to do with the Love Bug outbreak, but his pleas were largely ignored. Until now.
It was here, acting on a tip-off, that I came to look for Onel de Guzman. Eventually, the friendly stall-holder who remembered him directed me across town to a different shopping district. After many blank looks and suspicious questions, a bored-looking trader pointed me in the direction of a nearby commercial unit. It was empty, but after 10 hours of waiting for him to turn up to work, I finally came face to face with Onel de Guzman.
Now 43, his juvenile acne scars have all but disappeared, and his diamond-shaped face has filled out into comfortable middle age. Still as shy as he was at the press conference all those years ago, he hides his gaze under a mop of jet-black hair, his face occasionally breaking into a smile displaying a distinctive set of uniform teeth.
I was surprised. The story he went on to tell is strikingly straightforward. De Guzman was poor, and internet access was expensive. He felt that getting online was almost akin to a human right a view that was ahead of its time. De Guzman came up with a solution: a password-stealing program. De Guzman says he would hang out in internet chat rooms where Manila internet users gathered, and strike up conversations.
He would then send his victims an infected file, pretending it was his picture. It worked. De Guzman had good reason to confine his hacking to Manila residents. At this time, internet access relied on dialup. But, like many hackers, de Guzman was curious, and wanted to push his virus forward. In May , he tweaked his original code so that it would not simply be restricted to Manila residents.
He also made two other changes that would ensure his place in hacker history. By doing so, he created a so-called worm virus, a self-spreading monster with no off switch. Once released, de Guzman would have no control.
His second change was the work of true, if perhaps unconscious, genius. Like many hackers, de Guzman is a night owl. He finds the dark hours quieter, making it easier to concentrate.
It was 1 am when de Guzman found his patient zero, the person whose initial infection would go on to spread the virus. He was chatting online to a fellow Filipino who was living in Singapore.
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