ILOVEYOU (2000): When Love Was a Virus (Literally)

In 2000, the world dodged the feared Y2K bug, avoiding major technological disruptions. 

The dot-com bubble was still inflating, with Internet companies booming, while France celebrated its recent victory in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. As the world looked ahead to the Sydney Olympics, mobile phones became more accessible, with the Nokia 3310 and its iconic Snake game rising in popularity. 

Meanwhile, Britney Spears dominated the music charts with Oops!... I Did It Again, setting the tone for a rapidly evolving digital era. But that year, love was in the air... and in emails.

The Attack:
ILOVEYOU spread via an email attachment called LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt.vbs. Once opened, it executed a script that overwrote files, stole credentials, and sent itself to all contacts. Within hours, millions of computers were infected, paralyzing businesses and governments.

Over 50 million computers were affected, causing an estimated $10 billion in damage. Even the CIA and the Pentagon had to shut down their systems to contain the outbreak.

How WatchGuard Would Have Stopped It:
With WatchGuard deployed, this attack wouldn’t have stood a chance. WatchGuard’s EDR, EPDR, and Advanced EPDR’s Zero-Trust Application Service would have prevented the execution of the VBS script, ensuring no user could open the file.  DNSWatch would have blocked the malware’s attempts to connect to external servers.

If you're curious to learn more, you can find additional information at ILoveYou Wikipedia