EP28: Made in the Philippines: The ILOVEYOU Virus Web Outbreak | Philippines’ Most Shocking Stories

0:01 When was the last time you received a love letter? Or when was the last time you sent one? Back in the year 2000, the most common way to send letters was through email. Compared to today, the internet was much slower back then. That’s because the concept of internet email was still fairly new. But compared to the post office, sending letters through email was still faster. So imagine this. In the middle of whatever you’re doing, an email suddenly pops into your inbox. It’s from someone you know. And the subject says: I LOVE YOU. The message reads: “Kindly check the attached love letter coming from me.”

0:47 The question is: would you open it? For many people around the world who received this email in the year 2000… the answer was—you guessed it—yes. And with just one click on that email message… millions of computers around the world crashed. From the Philippines… it spread across Asia… to America… and to Europe. All within just a few hours. It spread even faster than the COVID virus. And the estimated damage? More than 10 billion dollars. That’s the story I’m about to tell. The chaos, panic, and massive damage that followed.

1:36 Which Filipino computer student created it. And why it was called the fastest and most destructive computer virus in history. The Made-in-the-Philippines virus known as the “ILOVEYOU” virus. [Reporter] On that day, a computer virus - so simple, yet so powerful - swept across cyberspace with lightning speed and landed in every net connected computer in the planet. And there, it waited for nature to call. The virus was cloaked in a file that was labeled with a sexually provocative title: “I Love You.”

2:55 It all started with a thesis proposal by a student in a computer college. In February 2000, 23-year-old Onel de Guzman submitted a thesis proposal. His proposal was about developing a computer program. The program was supposed to provide free internet access. It was meant for students like him and for people who couldn’t afford internet connection fees. But in his proposal, Onel explained that the program would get free internet access by sneaking into other people’s internet accounts.

3:42 Once the program secretly entered an account, it would steal the password and allow the user to access the internet. His thesis objective even stated—and I quote: “Use it to steal and retrieve internet accounts of the victim’s computer.” So was that okay? Stealing the passwords of people who were paying for internet access? Of course not. His college professor rejected the thesis. The professor said it was illegal and unethical. The professor even wrote in a note: “We do not produce burglars.” After that, Onel dropped out of school.

4:30 But to understand how all this happened, let’s first look at what the internet was like in the year 2000. Back then, connecting to the internet was slower and worked very differently. It was called dial-up internet connection. For those who aren’t familiar with dial-up internet, here’s what it was like. Imagine a night in the late 1990s or early 2000s. The house is quiet. You walk up to your computer, turn it on, and wait for it to boot up. That alone takes several minutes. Then you click the icon that says “Connect.” And then you hear a sound that many people still remember today.

5:17 Something like this. That’s the sound of dial-up internet. Dial-up internet used telephone lines to connect to the internet. So if you were online, your telephone line was busy. No one could call you. And if someone did call, your internet connection could suddenly disconnect. It was slow. Very slow compared to today’s internet. Opening a simple website could take several minutes. Downloading a single photo? That could take forever. Because of that, people were careful about every click.

6:03 A large file could take hours to download. And back then, there was no social media yet. Most people had never heard of phishing, malicious software, or hacking. Email felt like a real letter. It was personal. And people trusted the sender. So on May 4, 2000, many people received an email from someone they knew. Someone in their contact list. The subject line said: “I LOVE YOU.” The message said: “Kindly check attached LOVELETTER coming from me.”

6:52 Of course, people clicked it. What they didn’t know was that a malicious program had just entered their computers. Within seconds, their files were damaged and deleted. And they couldn’t be recovered. Imagine losing important photos, documents, office records, confidential files. All gone. Anyone would panic. But it got worse. The ILOVEYOU virus, also known as the Love Bug, automatically sent the same email to everyone in your contact list. And because your contacts trusted you, they opened it too.

7:42 Then it sent the same email to all their contacts. And those contacts sent it to theirs. It created a domino effect. That’s how the Love Bug spread so incredibly fast. Like a highly contagious disease crawling across the internet. Within just a few hours, it reached computers in major institutions, companies, and even government and military agencies around the world. International news quickly reported a massive computer virus outbreak. In Hong Kong, Dow Jones and several communication firms were affected.

8:31 In Denmark, the Parliament and telecom companies were hit. In the United Kingdom, the House of Commons shut down its email servers. And in the United States, servers belonging to military bases, the U.S. Army, telecom companies, Ford, and even the CIA were infected. Just imagine the confidential information and important records that were lost forever. Computer security experts around the world rushed to stop the damage. One of the only ways to slow the spread was to shut down email servers.

9:22 This paralyzed operations in companies, institutions, and government offices. All because of one email. The estimated damage? Around $10-15 billion. An enormous amount of money at the time. All because someone clicked an attachment called “I LOVE YOU.” The virus made headlines around the world. And it was called “the fastest-spreading virus of all time.” After experts developed an antivirus solution, the next priority was finding out where the virus came from.

10:11 And who created it. And why? The FBI joined the investigation. They analyzed the virus code. Experts said the code itself wasn’t very complicated. But there were clues. Some terms in the code included “Barok” and “Philippines.” There was also an email address: [email protected] The host server used to spread the virus was Sky Internet. That server was quickly taken offline. So the virus couldn’t continue stealing passwords.

10:59 It was already obvious where the virus originated. The Philippines. The FBI contacted its counterpart in the Philippines — the NBI. An investigation immediately began. Four days after the attack, investigators traced the origin of the virus to a computer in an apartment in Pandacan, Manila. NBI agents and police raided the apartment. But the computer wasn’t there. However, they found several floppy disks. Inside those disks was the code for the ILOVEYOU virus.

11:49 For those unfamiliar with floppy disks, they were like USB storage devices today. They were used to save programs and files. At first, investigators suspected a bank employee living in the apartment. His name was Reonel. And his girlfriend Irene. But later, they discovered the real creator was Onel. He was Irene’s brother. And he had been using the computer in the apartment. Investigators also learned that he was the same computer student who had dropped out of college. He was also reportedly connected to an underground hacking group called Grammersoft.

12:35 During the investigation, authorities also uncovered his rejected thesis proposal. The same proposal that described a program designed to steal internet passwords. Because of how it worked, the ILOVEYOU virus was described as a Trojan virus. Named after the Trojan Horse from mythology. Something that appears harmless but launches an attack once inside. It was also called a worm. Because once inside a computer, it spreads rapidly, deletes files, replicates itself. And sends copies of itself to every contact.

13:23 On May 11, 2000, Onel’s lawyer held a press conference. But Onel barely spoke. When asked if he might have released the virus by accident, he simply said: “Possible.” The NBI arrested Onel but there was a problem. Authorities didn’t know what crime to charge him with. Because in the year 2000, there was no law yet against computer hacking in the Philippines. So prosecutors filed charges for malicious mischief and violation of RA 8484, the Access Device Regulation Law. But about two months later, the charges were dropped. Not because he was proven innocent. But because there was no clear law that defined his actions as a crime.

14:16 And that’s when change began. One of the Philippines’ first responses was the passage of Republic Act 8792, also known as the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000. The law was passed the same year the Love Bug spread - a response aimed at ensuring accountability for computer hackers. It aimed to recognize electronic transactions and electronic documents - commercial or not. But more importantly, it introduced penalties for the unlawful use of electronic data and systems.

15:02 In simple terms, it was the Philippines’ first step in saying: You are accountable for what you do in the digital world. After the case was dropped, Onel never returned to college. He kept a low profile for many years. Rumors began to circulate - some said a major tech company recruited him because of his expertise. Others claimed he was living in Germany. Some even said he moved to the United States. There were even rumors that he was working for NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Another rumor claimed that Microsoft hired him. Ironically, Microsoft was one of the companies heavily affected by the virus.

15:51 But in 2020, twenty years after the global chaos caused by the virus, a technology journalist finally found him. In a report by Geoff White, Onel was located in a small and crowded mobile phone shop in Quiapo, Manila. He was running the shop with one staff member. He agreed to be interviewed. And after 20 years at age 44, he finally revealed the truth. He revealed a lot of things. And in that interview, he confessed everything and his real plan.

16:40 According to Onel, his original plan was only to target people locally. Mostly Filipinos he chatted with online. He had already created a virus that could steal passwords from local dial-up connections. But before May 2000, he modified the code. He added an auto-spreading feature. And he exploited a weakness in the Windows 95 operating system. He also chose a subject line that would appeal to everyone. He believed many people longed for love and relationships.

17:33 So he named it “ILOVEYOU.” He said he first sent the virus to someone in Singapore. Then he went out drinking. He only realized the scale of the damage when his mother told him that the news was reporting about a hacker being hunted worldwide. Onel also said in the interview that he regretted creating the virus. He said it brought negative global attention to him. So of course… I was challenged to find Onel as well —

18:20 now, 26 years after the ILOVEYOU virus spread. I first went to the mobile shop in Quiapo where he was last seen. I went around all the phone and gadget repair shops in Quiapo, but most of the people working there now are new technicians. Some of them did not know Onel. Others were familiar with his name. They said they had heard that Onel used to have a stall there, but they never personally met him. While going around, I met a technician and programmer. He said that Onel used to be his friend and part of their group of programmers.

19:06 But according to him, when the ILOVEYOU virus spread, they lost communication with each other. He said he truly regrets it because Onel was really one of the most skilled programmers. Whenever there was something they didn’t know or couldn’t fix, Onel was the one they turned to for help. Next, I went to Onel’s address in Pandacan, Manila, where he was arrested by the NBI back then. The small apartment where he used to live is still there, but Onel’s family had reportedly moved out long ago. According to a neighbor, only Onel’s aunt remained there for a time, but because she got sick, she returned to their hometown in Marinduque about two years ago.

19:59 The barangay councilor said he last saw Onel before the pandemic. He also mentioned that Onel used to have a stall in a large mall in Manila. So I went to that mall as well. But as expected, his stall was no longer there. According to one of the longest-standing phone repair shop owners in the mall, he last saw Onel in 2019. So most probably, that was during the pre-pandemic time. After that, there were rumors that Onel went to the U.S. and had been working there ever since. One international computer expert later said the ILOVEYOU virus was not technically very complicated. It was quickly traced. And an antivirus solution was quickly created.

20:49 So why did it become the fastest-spreading virus in history? Because of one thing. Love. Who wouldn’t wonder if maybe a coworker, a friend, or someone you know secretly liked you after receiving an email like that? It’s exciting, right? And back then, people were not yet aware of online scams and hacking. So they trusted the email. If we look back at the ILOVEYOU virus, we can see that it was not just the story of a piece of malware.

21:37 It became a wake-up call — a wake-up call for everyone to be aware of the rapid development of the internet and digital technology. While it has greatly contributed to the advancement of society, it can also cause significant damage when people and institutions are unable to keep up or be properly prepared. And we can clearly see that today — with the many different ways the internet, social media, and technology are being used for scams and hacking. So, you? If you receive an “ILOVEYOU” message in your email from someone you know… would you open it?

22:31 Have you ever been a victim of a scam? Or have your accounts ever been hacked? And what do you think about what happened with the “ILOVEYOU” virus and its creator? Where do you think he is now? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe to our news YouTube channel. I’m Jessie Cruzat. And this is Philippines’ Most Shocking Stories.