Earth's Deadliest [Computer] Virus: ILOVEYOU

a 6.5 magnitude earthquake is shaking the foundations of the bandgai islands 93 million miles away mars mercury venus jupiter saturn the moon and the sun all conjoined in a rare astronomical event back at the equator it's early morning [Music] the student presents an idea for a senior thesis he says the internet has become too costly for the average person his solution he can create a program that would retrieve the account logins of other individuals hijack their internet obviously he wouldn't release the bug he just wants to show he can do it before graduation the dean's response [Music] the student writes the last line of code he originally developed it to be geology to manila a safety net but last minute out of sheer curiosity he removes the geographic restriction [Music] shrouded in the universal message of peace the file looks to be from a secret admirer once opened the full file extension reveals itself this is a visual basic script it uses an exploit in early computer systems that allow it to run system code simply by being opened the top two files are sent to the windows system folder where they wait the bottom one is sent to the windows directory where it creates its own key in the local machine registry this causes other programs to run as soon as the system boots before the user even has a chance to log in from there it opens internet explorer and randomly picks from a series of four web pages once landed it downloads windbugsfex.exe then it adds another registry key at the starting line it gathers the system login password ip address and remote access information packages it up neatly and sends it to mail me at super.net.ph after the details are sent the worm searches for files containing extensions like dot js or dot css it overrides them with the file extension it does the same for jpegs and mp3s rendering them completely unretrievable once the damage is done the worm enters outlook scans for emails then sends itself using the originator's email address destruction is now spreading through a message of peace and love you are watching disrupt tv from philippines to hong kong the virus has infected several large corporations and banks not only deleting important files within the companies grabbing the email listings of all individuals in contact from there it jumps to europe where it reads particular damage to the email servers within the house of commons they're forced to shut down same with the denmark parliament with classified documents in danger of being wiped out the us air force has deployed a system called asim it works by utilizing 144 sensors that the air force had previously placed across bases throughout the country it then creates a sort of window for centralized command to view incoming emails when email matches the description command sends a tcp reset to that desktop telling it to stop receiving emails for variable the enough sector is not so lucky most companies are using outlook including att and ford they are forced to take their email servers offline the virus has now affected nearly 55 million computers along with the emails a second spreader has been identified within the original files one is named m irc.ini this scans the computer for an irc client if found it automatically sends the exploit to all contacts that the victim may share on a server instead of a love letter though it sends this message thinking it's a legit file tech savvy users of irc would recognize the name the author of mirc it's only after running the script but they know he had nothing to do with it security analysts are scanning the virus looking for clues as to the origin they find that a component within closely resembles a password cracker named that was discovered four months earlier they find within it signed names and resumes an entry that says in the resume portion is an extended list of first and last names along with a group title this traces back to an after school club at a computer college in the philippines [Music] an apartment is rated inside is a man a woman and an empty desk with a dusty outline of a gateway performance 1500 the man now identified as romo ramones is the boyfriend of irene de guzman who is the older sister of a student from the college the student's name just so happens to be on the list you're gonna find it's a lot lighter than usual as you drive eastbound [Music] that was love shack by the b52s you're listening to 102.7 kiss fm folks it's a sunny 75.5 degrees in los angeles and today isn't just any old friday folks you know what i'm talking about it's when a porsche friday you know the rules dial the line if you're the 102nd caller a brand new 50 000 force is yours to drift away into the california sunset as soon as kiss by prince begins playing those lines are open get your thumbs ready three two one let's roll [Music] barely recognizable as our current day web this is before.coms and dot orgs [Music] pseudoname has just come across a telephone number for arpanet was the first wide area network that allowed different connections to send information to each other also known as packet switching [Music] tries connecting to the number through his home modem sure enough he's gained access to the university of california berkeley diving further he discovers there's potential government documents hidden behind a password he tries guessing he tries u c b over the next few weeks dante continues logging in for him it's less about obtaining sensitive information or leaking it more about gaining power snooping around seeing how far he can cross the line on one of his deep dives he makes a fatal error he forgets to mask his login name this error lights up a silent flag miles away at a security office unbeknownst to kevin he continues the kid answers the door he's greeted by the los angeles d.a they seize his computer but since he's underage he isn't charged [Music] in the back reaches of a menlo park storage facility two workers are clearing out unpaid storage units it's a routine job break open the lock clear out the belongings auction off what they can but in this particular unit they find something the stanford research institute one of the centers impacted by the previous escapades reaches out to kevin proposing that he works for them securing their network the 18 year old is hired [Music] he has a condo a few blocks from the main entrance of sri he spends his days working on encryption algorithms for secure military communications he's successfully gone from an underground black hat hacker to a white hat hacker with a paycheck [Music] detective james neal of the menlo park pd thinks he's looking at the standard case of stolen property the storage bill is assigned to a john anderson a quick search finds this name to be a fake upon further inspection of the unit the detective finds blank ids and a document containing an unpublished number of the soviet embassy a few pages back another document containing the name [Music] the national bureau of investigation issues a mandatory court appearance for two students onnell de guzman who originally proposed the thesis and the michael buen who is suspected to have helped write the structure of the worm [Music] they are nowhere to be found the worm continues its spread though the effects are beginning to weaken a press conference is called the guest of honor o'nell de guzman when asked if he's the one who unleashed the virus states and one question if he feels anything about the damage caused he looks down almost nothing and covers his ears being the first large-scale computer crime out of the philippines the authorities have trouble charging an l with anything over the subsequent months the philippine congress passed legislation dealing with computer-related crimes but seeing as this was made official after a now stunt he can't be charged ultimately the case against him boils down to credit card fraud never admits to creating the virus only that he may have inadvertently released the program all charges against him are dropped in total the estimated damages are said to exceed in wipe files and another for cleanup twenty years later he finally admits to creating the virus and releasing it he said he did it alone [Music] yes as you can see a lot of ebs files have been written and nope it's been overwritten it will not boot right now a cyber security specialist is deep in an organization's infrastructure he's well equipped to face any situation that may arise but he started at the fundamentals is offering computer science courses at a fraction of the cost of traditional university rates whether you're looking to become a network engineer cyber security specialist or just want to learn valuable information the computer science foundation's course will present computational thinking ranging from everyday tasks to complex algorithms topics include decision trees that computers use to boil down the mini into one or computational problem solving that presents complex real world problems in an easy to follow format you can prepare yourself for a career path and computation via brilliant.org slash disrupt for free or if you want to unlock all 60 plus courses the first 200 people that sign up will get a 7-day trial of premium plus 20 off the annual subscription compute the future at brilliant.org [Music] disrupt [Music] welcome back polson is brought in for questioning he denies everything a few hours later they accompany him to his condo inside they find a room full of more equipment one of these is alignment's headset this device can be connected wherever there are exposed telephone wires accessible when connected to a line the handset is essentially indistinguishable from regular telephones except it can intercept active calls answer incoming calls and make outgoing calls back then you needed a license to operate it something kevin is lacking they confiscate some of the equipment and start their investigation among the obtained documents and equipment they find a series of pictures a young slender male crouching down and picking the walk of a pacific bell trailer further pictures show the same subject inside the telephone trailer posing with it over the past four years polson has been finding a particular thrill in dumpster diving this will be your last chance to get the old ids and using those to gain access to physical networks [Music] fbi agents silently surround kevin's home in north hollywood then the leader's phone rings the agents immediately trace the calm only to be led straight to a pacific bell number instead of jumping down and heading out of country kevin decides to stay close to home he dyes his hair different color takes up a new identity to get some quick cash he utilizes his phone line skills in an all too easy scheme we're sorry all of our representatives are still assisting it's a sunny 75.5 degrees in los angeles and today isn't just any old friday folks you know what i'm talking about it's when a porsche friday you know the rules three two one let's roll kevin flips a switch blocks every other caller from reaching the line now any line that is picked up would redirect to him including 102nd [Music] congratulations you've won a brand new porsche who's the lucky winner wow i can't believe it this this is michael michael b peters [Music] one can only speculate about what motivated kevin polson those who knew him before he fled agree that he's an unusually talented and bright young man possibly a genius but now he is a wanted man facing up to 37 years in prison a tv show has just aired an episode about kevin's hacks the show opens their phone lines to callers that may have tips about the subjects on the premiere of this particular episode the phone lines are jammed during his time laying low the la vice squad a division focused on public order crimes like narcotics and gambling pick up kevin on an undisclosed minor crime eventually though they release him failing to check the federal warrant database [Music] the feds have received a tip that kevin is still living in la they questioned some of his one says that he frequents they go to the store give the employees his picture and wait brian bridges is working the night shift [Music] he spots a familiar face kevin has dyed his hair a light blonde but it isn't enough the store clerk dials the authorities ensuring kevin doesn't spot him [Music] by the time they arrive kevin is gone for the next 24 hours the agent on duty terry stakes out the parking lot kevin pulls up terry takes a position at the front door two clerks sneak up behind kevin and tackle him to the ground hearing the commotion terry runs in and handcuffs him they bring him into the back room until transportation can arrive as if on cue kevin begins complaining that his eyes are watering he requests that he take his contact lenses out and get the glasses from a bag in his car terry agrees and retrieves the bag but he checks it before handing it over sure enough in the glasses case is a universal handcuff key polson is being held in a federal lock-up he calls his sister and mentions that the police quote she recognizes the phrase and calls one of kevin's hacker friends who subsequently retrieves an incriminating computer from an undisclosed location however the police are a step ahead months earlier they recruited a local hacker to infiltrate the local la hacker circle he rings the bell and the incriminating computer is intercepted it takes nearly nine months for them to decrypt it nearly two years after his arrest polson is accused of 19 counts that include conspiracy fraud in connection with access devices interception of wire or electronic communications and money laundering he faces 100 years in prison and nearly 5 million in fines this is considered one of the first large-scale cases against the newly defined crime of hacking if successfully charged they hope to send a clear message to the mid-90s hacking community eventually polson pleads guilty to several counts of computer fraud mail fraud wire fraud and money laundering he's ordered to pay 58k in fines and given a 51 sentence [Music] kevin is released on parole by court order he's barred from using computers [Music] for the first time in the 2000s he flips the switch he gains access okay this is this is the question did i ever consider leaving california all together going across the country um i i did consider that but and i think this this might be part of the hacker mindset i wanted to solve the problem not run away from it [Music] hey so i was just thinking about how everyone in the world has their own conscience their own lives everything uh everyone alive is living so then i thought about uh how much computer processing power it would take to simulate uh everybody's conscious i'm not saying that our universe is simulated i don't actually believe in that theory all i'm saying is that just stop for a moment and think about how much processor power would be required to simulate everybody's conscience another thing would that power be shared equally would some people get more power than others maybe i don't know thanks bye man our clever humor lives in a maze

Channel: Disrupt

Views: 2,362,497

Rating: 4.9514403 out of 5

Keywords: 1weekinvr, 1 week in virtual reality, disrupt, disrupt vr, mydoom, mydoom virus, virus, creepy virus, worst virus ever, most dangerous virus, most dangerous computer virus, disrupt virus, deadliest computer virus, disruptv, disrupttv, virus disrupt, iloveyou virus

Id: soZyb6lMx4c

Length: 22min 34sec (1354 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 05 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/above-average-moron]

This is fascinating, but I think I lost the plot. How was the virus deadly? Is the worm at the beginning of the video related to the hacker at the end?

[u/Legoshi-RecRoom]

It’s a very good watch.

[u/PlanetaryConundrum]

Was just about to post this! Ya beat me to it!

Awesome video, everything Disrupt has done is cool.

[u/shilli69]

Bravo, very good idea