In the history of the IT world there are many interesting anecdotes, such as the first time a machine (Deep Blue) beat the great chess master Garry Kasparov, to cite one example.
Today, the creation and necessity of laws regulating computer activities, such as AI development and data protection, are being debated worldwide. Because of this, we cannot forget that it has been 13 years since the release of one of the world's most famous viruses:
The ILOVEYOU virus, also known as the "Love Letter" virus, was one of the most destructive, lethal, and widespread viruses in history. This virus spread throughout the world in May 2000.
ILOVEYOU was created by two Filipino programmers; these guys wrote the malicious code using the Visual Basic programming language (this seems incredible).
In addition to their technical expertise, these guys made use of social engineering, taking advantage of and exploiting a basic human characteristic, which is curiosity for drama: These guys made the virus spread through email, pretending to be a love letter, with the subject “ILOVEYOU”.
But that's not all, attached to the email was a file named “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt.vbs” (A must-see for romantics)
Upon opening the file, the virus would infect the computer and send the virus to all email addresses found in the user's address book.
Thus, in just a few hours, it spread throughout the world, wreaking havoc on large companies and government organizations.
It is estimated that the virus infected more than 45 million computers, causing damage equivalent to billions of dollars.
After much work and suffering, it was discovered that the virus exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook. Upon discovering this, Microsoft was able to release a patch to fix the problem.
The individuals responsible for the virus were identified and prosecuted by Philippine authorities. However, they were never convicted due to the lack of specific laws regarding the development and distribution of computer viruses.
This short story reminds us how easy it can be to trick people into clicking on links that are harmful to an organization. For this reason, it is very important to educate organizational staff about these situations, as well as implement cybersecurity measures to protect the organization's processes, data, and operations.
Therefore, it is very important for organizations and people in general to know the laws that exist today such as GDPR or the Law on the Protection of Private Life in Chile, among others.
At Zenta, we help our clients reduce the risk of becoming victims of these types of attacks. We have the experience, profiles, and methodologies necessary to help clients be more secure.