What Is The First Computer Virus In The Philippines? Best Guide 2023

What Is The First Computer Virus In The Philippines: The first computer virus in the Philippines was called the I Love You Virus. It is also termed a Love Letter Virus or Love Bug. It came into existence in the year 2000. The exact date when it came into existence is May 4, 2000. Just as it started, it spread widely, and soon it started affecting many computer systems.

This computer virus created massive issues with peoples’ computer systems and hence it needed some quick solution or else, the damage was quite a lot. The most dreaded thing about this virus was, it activated worm-style patterns and then there would be infiltration of a single system. But later, the worm will propagate on its own and spread the infection to other devices as well.

What Is The First Computer Virus In The Philippines And Who Designed It?

The virus is “I Love You” virus. Since the virus is truly quite infectious and spreads like wildfire, you would want to know who designed it. Well, The computer virus I Love You was designed by a Filipino computer programmer Onel De Guzman.

How To Fix Van 9005 Error Code

GB WhatsApp APK Update

Infinix Hot 30 5G Price In India

His main objective to design this virus was to get the Windows passwords from the computer and also get access to the internet accounts of the different users. With this thing in mind, he came up with the computer virus named I Love You.

The motive was also to seek the internet connections of the wealthier countries. This way, the developing nations will have to pay less for internet bills and they can enjoy the extra time from the leading nations’ internet.

To understand the above details precisely, just go through the table given below:

To reduce internet bills by depending on other people’s connectionsLove Bug, Love Letter
The alternative name of I Love You VirusOnel De Guzman
Motive of the virusTo reduce internet bills by depending on other peoples’ connections

How did the virus start spreading?

What Is The First Computer Virus In The Philippines

It is important to note that a specific task was done so that the virus would start spreading. So, the Filipino Computer Programmer started spamming the peoples’ mailboxes with the email and the tagline was I Love You.

People felt that it was a love letter and they would open the mail. That’s how the outbreak of this virus was witnessed. People who opened the email would not even think that there’s something malicious about the same.

So, they had the feeling that something good was coming their way. But, as they would open, problems would begin with the computer systems. The first computer virus in the Philippines started spreading in this way.

How Did The I Love You Virus Work?

The I Love You Virus used VB Script Program. So, when the users open the mail thinking that the mail is just a normal one which is like a letter. People think that it’s just the affection showing mail from someone, but, it turned out to be malicious.

The attachment came like this: Love-Letter-For-You.txt.vbs. Because the script had .txt.vbs, people felt that it was just another text file. Most of the computers at that time identified and used .txt.vbs script.

But as the mail was opened or as the letter was opened, the malware began to do its work. The result of the damage was that the users lost their data from the computer. So, this thing created a lot of nuisance among people.

I Love You Computer Virus Damage To Computers

As this Love Bug started hitting the computers, devastating results were seen. Just as the damage started to begin, the worm started traveling to North America, Europe, and Asia. The havoc did not stop there.

It also started spreading among the UK’s House of Commons, Ford Company, and Microsoft. Looking into all these things, the USA had already given a warning to computer users not to open the mail with the words I Love You or Love Letter.

But, people could just not resist and so the damage started spreading even in the USA. It would be a surprising thing, but even the Pentagon had to face the damage. Those who did not use Outlook were spared. But the rest of everyone had to face the brunt of this I Love You Virus.

Estimates say that just in 10 days, almost 45 million people got affected. The financial damage is said to be around 10 billion USD. If you want to know these details in a presentable form then go through the table given below:

Name of the VirusI Love You
OriginPhillipines
Damage in USD10 Billion USD
Number of people got affected45 million

What Punishment Did The Computer Programmer Face?

The computer programmer had to face the criticism. Even though there could have been press charges against him due to suspicion, the laws at that time were quite relaxed. Thus, the Filipino computer programmer who had come up with the I Love You Virus did not get any punishment.

It’s quite surprising, but at that time there were no such rules for cyber security. In the current times, you will see that things are quite strict and hence there are remedies and solutions for virus prevention and malware protection.

Important Links

Official WebsiteClick Here
Our HomepageClick Here

FAQs

1. Even though I Love You was a popular virus in the Philippines, which was the first computer Virus in the world. 

In 1971, Bob Thomas came up with a computer virus called The Creeper. At that time, people did not know about the term virus. So, it was termed as a self-replicating program.

2. Which is the most popular Virus for Computers?

The most popular computer virus was My Doom. It led to 38 Billion USD in damage. 

3. What damage was done by the I Love You Computer Virus?

The I Love You Virus also hit a lot of computer systems and even many countries. It led to damage of around 10 Billion USD. 

4. What method did I Love You use to create havoc in the computer systems field?

I Love You Computer Virus came up with the social engineering tactic and in this manner, the damage could spread all over the world.

Leave a Comment