LoveBug suspect charged

Will Knight ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 30 Jun 2000 15:35 BST

A man thought to be behind the LoveBug worm has been charged with credit card fraud by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), according to reports Thursday.

It was previously suggested the Filippino authorities might never bring charges because the country has no laws on cybercrime.

Onel de Guzman, a 24-year-old Filipino computer student, has already confessed to developing a password stealing application while at university. His lawyer said recently that Guzman could have released the worm accidentally.

The NBI has reportedly charged Guzman under the Access Device Act, which relates to the illegal use of emails and banking fraud.

The ILoveYou worm caused havoc on computer systems around the world when it was unleashed on May 4. It deleted certain files, tried to steal network passwords and sent itself to victim's plundered from address books.

While experts say it is difficult to assess the sum of damage caused to companies by the worm, several estimates have reached billions of dollars.

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