Love Letter worm
E701335
The Love Letter worm was a notorious computer virus from 2000 that spread rapidly via email by masquerading as a love letter, causing widespread damage to systems worldwide.
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
computer worm
ⓘ
email worm ⓘ |
| affectedOrganizations |
government agencies
ⓘ
home users ⓘ large corporations ⓘ small businesses ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
ILOVEYOU
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Love Bug NERFINISHED ⓘ LoveLetter NERFINISHED ⓘ VBS.LoveLetter NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| category | 2000s malware outbreak ⓘ |
| damageEstimateUSD | 5000000000 ⓘ |
| emailAttachmentName | LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs ⓘ |
| emailSubjectLine | ILOVEYOU NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| executionRequirement | user opening the malicious email attachment ⓘ |
| exploitedSoftware | Microsoft Outlook address book NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| fileExtension | .vbs ⓘ |
| firstDetectedInCountry | Philippines NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| firstDetectedOn | 2000-05-04 ⓘ |
| inspiredSecurityResponse |
increased user education about phishing and malicious attachments
ⓘ
stricter email attachment filtering policies ⓘ |
| legalAftermath | led to calls for stronger cybercrime legislation in the Philippines ⓘ |
| notableCharacteristic | used social engineering by masquerading as a love letter ⓘ |
| notableImpact |
one of the fastest-spreading email worms in history at the time
ⓘ
prompted organizations to shut down email systems temporarily ⓘ raised global awareness of email-borne malware threats ⓘ |
| operatingSystemTargeted | Microsoft Windows NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| payload |
downloading additional malware
ⓘ
modifying registry settings ⓘ overwriting files with certain extensions ⓘ |
| propagationMethod |
copying itself to shared network drives
ⓘ
mass-mailing itself to contacts in Microsoft Outlook address book ⓘ |
| spreadVia |
Internet Relay Chat
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
email ⓘ file sharing ⓘ |
| targetedFileExtensions |
.css
ⓘ
.hta ⓘ .jpeg ⓘ .jpg ⓘ .js ⓘ .jse ⓘ .mp2 ⓘ .mp3 ⓘ .sct ⓘ .vbe ⓘ .vbs ⓘ .wsh ⓘ |
| timeToGlobalSpread | approximately one day ⓘ |
| writtenIn | VBScript NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.