CNN
'ILOVEYOU' computer bug bites hard, spreads fast
May 4, 2000
Web posted at: 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 GMT)
By D. Ian Hopper
CNN Interactive Technology Editor
(CNN) -- By midday Thursday, the self-propagating and destructive "ILOVEYOU" virus had already wrought hundreds of millions of dollars in software damage and lost commerce, analysts said.
The virus was first reported in Hong Kong and spread gradually west as a new day dawned, infecting government and business computers. Anti-virus companies in the United States fielded thousands of calls from corporate customers reporting widespread infections.
Two anti-virus companies, Symantec, which makes Norton Anti-Virus, and F-Secure, have developed posted "virus definition" files for the "ILOVEYOU" virus, which is currently known to spread through the Microsoft Outlook e-mail program and through a popular Internet Relay Chat program. Those files have so-called "fingerprints" for the virus, allowing those programs to detect and eliminate it.
"This is fairly big time," said computer security expert Peter Tibbett, who works for ICSA.net of Reston, Virginia, which measures the frequency and cost of viruses on 1 million machines per year.
'LOVE' already costing much
He estimated $100 million in software damage and lost commerce had been caused by 9 a.m. Thursday in North America alone and predicted the price tag would exceed $1 billion by Monday morning.
ICSA.net has 200,000 clients, among them financial institutions, government agencies and corporations, Tibbett said. The Department of Justice used the company's estimates for damage caused by last year's Melissa virus, he said.
"This beats Melissa hands down,"
- by me, Kerry Wayne Burgess, posted by me: 08:52 AM Pacific-timezone USA Monday 12/22/2025
