As far as email viruses go, the ILOVEYOU virus is probably the most popular. Dubbed as the “Love Bug,” the ILOVEYOU virus invaded the computer world by spreading “love virus” to a number of computer systems all over the world. Some people even thought that it was the aftershock of the Y2K bug that caused glitches in several computer systems at the beginning of the new millennium. Although it was proven to be independent from the Y2K bug, the ILOVEYOU virus caused a technological havoc that kept the entire virtual world on its toes.
Opening the ILOVEYOU attachment
The ILOVEYOU email contains an attachment that is labeled LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs. Upon the activation of the said attachment, the virus automatically forwards the ILOVEYOU email to everybody on your address list. What’s worse is that the forwarded emails will all bear your name as the sender.
Replacing the system files
The effects of the ILOVEYOU virus are not limited to the involuntary forwarding of virus emails to everybody on your address list. In fact, when you open the ILOVEYOU virus attachment, the virus will automatically search the hard drive of your computer and will replace all MP3, JPEG, JPG, and DOC files with copies of itself bearing the .VBS extension.
Downloading the Trojan Horse
Another harmful effect of opening the ILOVEYOU virus attachment is that the virus downloads a Trojan Horse called WIN-BUGSFIX.exe from a certain website hosted by Sky Internet, a Philippine Internet service provider. The downloaded Trojan Horse then invades your computer system by collecting all your usernames and passwords and sends them to mailme@super.net.ph, the email address of the notorious author of the ILOVEYOU virus.