LOVE BUG Essay -- essays research papers

The â€Å"Love Bug† Virus   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The virus dubbed the â€Å"love bug† started to rapidly spread throughout the world on May 4, 2000. According to David Ruppe (May 5,2000) in an article on the ABCNEWS.com website, The virus came in the form of â€Å"ILOVEYOU† in the subject line, which seemed harmless and greets people in a friendly way. They have no idea that they are in for a big surprise as they opened their email. The message inside reads: â€Å"kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me† (Ruppe, May 5,2000). A 22-year-old college dropout was arrested in the Philippines as the author of this virus (anonymous, August 21,2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When the attachment contained in the email was opened, the virus rapidly proliferated by automatically sending copies to everyone listed in the user’s email address book. Experts have concluded that this was the cause of the rapid slow down of servers around the world. Some of the servers have been so severely overloaded that they have shut down. This in turn has been preventing other email from being se3nt (anonymous September 5, 2000). As Hillebrand reports, â€Å"The Head of corp0orate communications at the computer Security Company Sophos Anit- Virus, Graham Cluely says that companies have been bombarded by this virus and have begun to switch off email systems†. Cluely also concluded that one of the reasons that the virus is so popular because it makes a tug on your emotions, love can get you into trouble (Hillebrand May 15,2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this certain case there are several categories of Cybercrime that this type of crime represents. As written by Casey, the first one being that the computer was a target. This virus was supposed to gather information once it was opened and send back information to its owner. This included searching for login names and passwords. This would enable the owner to use any of the victim’s Internet accounts to surf the net for free. (Ruppe May5, 2000). The second cybercrime category is the computer as the instrumentality of the crime. Since the computer was the main focus of the crime and was used to implement it. The third and final cybercrime category is that the crime is associated with the prevalence of computers. This one is because it allowed the theft of the components of the login names as well as the passwords. This could be cl... ...o the fact that the professor was not afraid to come forward and say â€Å"hey I might know this guy†. I did not like however the fact that the Philippine government had not law governing this type of crime. These crimes affect everyone in the world not just down the street or another state. However since this has come to light the E-Commerce Act has passed into law in the Philippines and carries a fine of at least $2,300 plus three jail sentences. The credit card legislation has much lesser penalties. This Act however is not retroactive (Hillebrand May 15, 2000). Cited Page Casey, Eoghan. (2001) Pg. 17. Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, Forensic Science computers and the Internet. London, Academic Press Casey, Eoghan. (2001) pg.167. Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, Forensic Science computers and the Internet. London, Academic Press Charges Dismissed Philippines Drop Charges In â€Å" Love Bug† Virus Case. (August 21, 2000). Associated Press, ABCNEWS.com Hillebrand, Mary. (May 15,2000) Nations Gather To Target Cybercrime. E-Commerce Times. Revisiting the Case (Sept 5, 2000) Associated Press, ABCNEWS.com Ruppe, David. (May 5, 2000) â€Å"Love Bug† Travels Around the Globe. ABCNEWS.com