It has been 13 years since the ILOVEYOU virus affected millions of computers by preying on a basic, non-technical human desire: to be loved. I think many of us like to think that we are so much more careful and savvy on the internet today, in 2013, able to spot obvious phonies on the internet, but that wasn't always the case, right?
The ILOVEYOU virus, created by Filipino student Onel de Guzman, sent millions of emails with the subject line "I love you" and contained nothing but an attached file: "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt." Once that file (in reality an executable-upon-opening .vbs file) was opened, it flooded the computer by overwriting existing music files and multi-media files. Today, this virus is still remembered in two ways:
1. Because of the sheer devastation of the virus.
2. Because of the viruses and spam that still use a similar strategy.
Many of us have probably experienced something similar to this on Facebook: you are perusing your newsfeed, when you see a notice on the side of the page that says something like:
"SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS A CRUSH ON YOU!!! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHO!!!"
You just encountered the "Secret Crush" application, a widget that, once clicked on, would lead you to download the application and then send an invite to five of your facebook friends. Needless to say, this led to many disappointed, love-hungry teenagers and probably even more disappointed parents who had to get these viruses removed from their home computers.
The Secret Crush virus proved that using the social strategy of preying on the heart is still a viable and successful strategy for virus and malware development. It's true, we're smarter than we were in the ILOVEYOU days, but obviously not smart enough for these strategies to be abandoned.
Can you spot a phony? I would argue that spammers, hackers, and internet fiends are still using the same strategy of preying on human desires in 2013, do you agree?
Sources:
- http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2363172,00.asp
- http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/applications/internet/web/secret-crush-virus-spreading-on-facebook-180422
I would say that users now feel more comfortable using the internet making them less cautious in engaging in certain activities online. Looking back the ILOVEYOU virus does seem like an accident waiting to happen. The virus makers are becoming more clever finding ways to appeal to all, not just a certain user. Checking my email on the daily basis I find more and more spam messages soliciting a cash prize. As we all know money talks and these emails are more likely to be opened and acted on. I would like to think I can spot a phony but its impossible especially with all the enticing ads flooding my timeline on social networks. I simply avoid certain links just to be on the safe side.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. My method to deal with the annoyance of spams and insignificant emails is having more than one email adresses. I have been using one main address for things that need to be checked daily, such as work, bank account, car insurance, and investment. Since nowadays, every app or website requires an email to create an account, my second email address comes to use. It is for facebook, twitter, coupons, etc. I don't check this address as often of my main on. In this way, I feel a lot easier to go through important emails and avoid being targeted by spams or viruses through emails.
DeleteTriet Pham
I would like to think I could spot a phony. The basic pop ups with flashing colors and lights are pretty easy to point out. But I'm pretty hesitant to open any emails that aren't from a someone I know and has an attached file. With todays technology, you would think everyone would be more cautious to open and download things that can be so well disguised. But that's not always the case. I do agree with you, human desires are definitely still being used to pull in the prey. Emotions are the probably the best way to attract people over the internet. That strategy won't be changing any time soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree Claudia! It is really funny how we read stuff like this and think that we would never fall for stuff like this, but obviously people do! And even though we are a decade out from the ILOVEYOU virus, the basic methods viruses use haven't really changed.
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