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Final Thoughts (Why did I Choose the "ILOVEYOU" Virus?)

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Final Thoughts (Why did I Choose the "ILOVEYOU" Virus?)

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I chose the "ILOVEYOU" virus because, from the background knowledge I knew about viruses before (Thank you for the worksheet about viruses!), I did minor research and found a rather odd virus called the "ILOVEYOU" virus. It seemed so ironic, how something like "ILOVEYOU" can be such a well-known virus. It was almost ironic. So, being very curious, when I started to research about the virus, I first looked up fun facts. I saw two crazy facts when I was researching; the virus hit 45 million people in 2 days ($10 billion in damages!), and that the people who were thought to be the masterminds were not caught. After that I realized, "This is definitely a good topic."

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A computer virus is a bundle/ piece of code that when exposed to a user or domain can replicate itself and cause harm to a PC. The ILOVEYOU Virus was one of the worst viruses in history.  Victims received emails with the subject "ILOVEYOU". The email usually included a message that read, "kindly check the attached LOVELETTER". However, there are many email variants. It seemed like an ordinary file, from someone that has secretly admired you, and as curious people could be, many fell for the deception. This was really a worm that programmed itself to send copies of the email to your contacts and override all the applicable files. This causes the failure to reboot or even try to power your computer potentially forever. The "ILOVEYOU" virus was created by Onel De Guzman and Reonel Ramones, two of the first-ever global hackers.

To prevent yourself from getting a virus infection (especially the "ILOVEYOU" virus) Always check carefully of links and files that may have hidden websites or viruses. Do not check the email if it has an unauthentic look and it claims to come from a company (they most likely want to harm or torture you). Be aware of the possibilities and think carefully if someone would really send a certain email or file, with little or no explanation. We should care today because, our technology is always improving, and if we don't catch up with it, it may turn its back on us. Understand that if such a clever, complex, and creative virus could be created in 2000, think about the dangers we have to be aware of in 2017. Our perception of understanding technology also needs to incorporate the potential dangers and risks we take on depending and making use of it.

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History and Effects of the 'ILOVEYOU' Virus

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History and Effects of the 'ILOVEYOU' Virus

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Most Common Variants of the Email... (Text Adapted from Computer Hope - Love Letter Virus)

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Most Common Variants of the Email... (Text Adapted from Computer Hope - Love Letter Virus)

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*There are over 25 different variants, check it out in the link below...

Type A (most common)
Subject:  ILOVEYOU
Message/File: "kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me." on LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs

Type B
Subject: Susitikim shi vakara kavos puodukui... (Meaning In Lithuanian: "Let's meet this evening for coffee." )
- This has the same file name and message quotation as Type A. -

Type C
Subject: fwd: Joke
File (No Message): On VeryFunny.vbs

Type D is almost exactly identical to variant A, but a file is named  WIN- -BUGFIX.exe instead of WIN-BUGFIX.exe.

Type E
Subject: Mother's Day Confirmation
Message/File: "We have proceeded to charge your credit card for the amount of $326.92 for the mothers day diamond special. We have attached a detailed invoice to this email. Please print out the attachment and keep it in a safe place. Thanks Again and Have a Happy Mothers Day!" on Mothersday.vbs

Type F
Subject: Dangerous Virus Warning
Message/File: "There is a dangerous virus circulating. Please click attached picture to view it and learn to avoid it." on virus_warning.jpg.vbs.

These are the most common files of the total variants.

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How to Prevent Yourself from Getting the Virus...

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How to Prevent Yourself from Getting the Virus...

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Now that you know what the virus looks like, do not click anything that looks exactly or similar to the "ILOVEYOU" virus. Always check carefully of links and files that may have hidden websites or viruses. Do not check the email if it has an unauthentic look and it claims to come from a company (they most likely want to harm or torture you). Do not trust an email from a company if it has notable and sometimes important mistakes in their email, such as spelling errors, personal information or informality. For future benefits, always have a trustworthy anti-virus program, such as Norton, and give your firewall a try, because it may save your computer one day. Also, make sure if something was sent to you it is almost, or if not, guaranteed it came directly from the actual user. Otherwise, delete the message and mark it as spam, so future emails can be filtered. Finally, be aware of the possibilities and think carefully if someone would really send a certain email or file, with little or no explanation.  This problem turned into a disaster because people didn't think the situation through.

If you already have the virus on your computer, try to remove it right away. If it is hidden, leave it for your antivirus to solve the issue. They can run tests, find potential malware, and you can remove it. If you think you have a situation where both of these solutions can fix the problem, find a professional, and get professional help to solve your problem.

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Why Should We Care Today? (Why is the "ILOVEYOU" Virus Important?)

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Why Should We Care Today? (Why is the "ILOVEYOU" Virus Important?)

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4 million people get scammed every year, and according to Panda Security, 32% of all computers have viruses. And the majority of viruses come from trojan horses, such as the "ILOVEYOU" virus. We seem to know all about cyber-security and keeping yourself protected, yet so many do not know how to react when it comes to safe connections and unsafe connections. For example, many suspicious emails, (such as the "love letter") seem to be very authentic and may come from a reliable and trustworthy person or company. In that case, many do not evaluate if the email is legitimate or not, and often run into more problems than the significant other, who often uses logical thinking and understands what is at stake. We should care today because, our technology is always improving, and if we don't catch up with it, it may turn its back on us. Understand that if such a clever, complex, and creative virus could be created in 2000, think about the dangers we have to be aware of in 2017. Our perception of understanding technology also needs to incorporate the potential dangers and risks we take on depending and making use of it. Of all measure, safety is definitely the main priority for technology.

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Wha Operating Systems were Used to execute the "ILOVEYOU" Virus?

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Wha Operating Systems were Used to execute the "ILOVEYOU" Virus?

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The "ILOVEYOU" virus could be unleashed in Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows ME. It was spread to the public as a VBS file, and not a TXT file. Since the virus spread in 2000, these Operating Systems were most likely to be affected, being popular at that time. After this incident, for future systems, they automatically detected viruses such as these, and almost all anti-virus programs have a rapid alerting system and always blocks malicious looking files. They also have effective solutions to prevent further if the virus was able to run successfully. Windows also double checks with the user if he really wants to run a file, especially if they have a firewall on.

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What made the "ILOVEYOU" virus different from other viruses?

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What made the "ILOVEYOU" virus different from other viruses?

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Instead of making the virus evident, they used the TXT file as the concealer. Because TXT files are often trustworthy, they have a big edge over executing the worm effectively. Secondly, the email is always from someone you know, and it is often tempting to find out if they're "secretly admiring" you. But all this a creative and intelligent social engineering tactic, that made you more convinced that this was probably realistic. You could say that they predicted the best choice for the user's (soon-to-be-destroyed) computer, and constructed it carefully for the best outcome. And so, using clever social engineering tactics, they were able to make billions in damage and affect 1/10 of the entire user population (45 million users)! The worst part is, even more, damage could be done if the user modified the original piece of code using "Edit", potentially overwriting more files.

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The virus originates from an email that was stated as "ILOVEYOU" in the statement. The hackers found out a good technique to help the virus spread. You may have predicted, the letter was supposedly from a secret (and usually personally known) admirer. What they don't know is that this user was also attacked, which the virus replicated itself to enter the email contacts. Another technique is that they hid the virus in a TXT file, which at the time was one of the most trustworthy and simple files. But such a simple and convincing message got everyone deceived: "kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me." - "ILOVEYOU" Message. Unless you were extremely lucky and got news of this dangerous virus, or someone warned you, your curiosity would've killed your computer. The second you double-clicked the "love letter", the worm replicates itself and is programmed to enter your email contacts and send the same letter. It also destroys applicable files (refer to "Where did the Virus Spread?"), overriding your computer and making it unable to boot up ever again. This video explains it thoroughly.

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The virus started from Philipines, then moved to Hong Kong, and eventually spread globally. It acts as an email, then spreads to other emails once you executive the TXT file that it is in. It was such as large virus that spread so massively that big company such as The Pentagon, CIA, and British Government had to shut down their domains in order to keep them safe.

The virus did not just replicate in any file but spread in files with the extension JPG, JPEG, VBS, VBE, JS, JSE, CSS, WSH, SCT DOC, HTA, MP2 or MP3. These files are the only ones eligible to override for the worm. This makes the entire PC unbootable and all data is lost.

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Who created the "ILOVEYOU" virus? When was the virus unleashed?

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Who created the "ILOVEYOU" virus? When was the virus unleashed?

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The "ILOVEYOU" virus was created by Onel De Guzman and Reonel Ramones, two of the first-ever global hackers. De Guzman actually created this code to support for his undergraduate thesis he was working for, but it was also found that they also had concealed group of programmers that had called themselves "GRAMMERSoft". They were not too long of possible suspicion subsequent to the unleash. Ramones was arrested, while Guzman hid from the public. He later confessed that he admitted to making such viruses, but had stated, "... I don't know if it is one of mine." Due to the lack of laws for cybercrime, they were not charged. Laws were set after to prevent future complications to occur.

The virus was exposed to the world on May 4th, 2005. It first started off with hundreds, then thousands, and eventually in 2 days, the virus had struck a total of approximately 45 million people, and cost billions in damage.

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The "ILOVEYOU" virus was a computer worm that was created to corrupt and destroy data on PCs. Victims received emails with the subject "ILOVEYOU". The email usually included a message that read, "kindly check the attached LOVELETTER". It seemed like an ordinary file, from someone that has secretly admired you, and as curious people could be, many fell for the deception. (Nowadays, many now better.) Victims received emails with the subject "ILOVEYOU". The email usually included a message that read, "kindly check the attached LOVELETTER". This was really a worm that programmed itself to send copies of the email to your contacts and override all the applicable files. This causes the failure to reboot or even try to power your computer potentially forever. What is more disastrous is that the original email is spread even further through the user's email catalogue. Furthermore, this virus has caused 10% of the world's population to become affected, causing billions in damages.

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The "ILOVEYOU" virus was one of the most devastating viruses of its time. The virus was so destructive, that it caused an estimated 10 billion dollars in damages.

Before we get into the specifics of the "ILOVEYOU" virus, we need to understand what a virus really is. A computer virus is a bundle/ piece of code that when exposed to a user or domain can replicate itself and cause a devastating effect on a PC/ system. This can range from simple (but irritating) pop-ups to theft of personal identity and accounts. The "ILOVEYOU" virus was unique of its kind and used pure deception to lure the user closer and closer to their trap.