This is a demonstration of the I Love You Virus (known mostly as "ILOVEYOU"), which was recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records as the worst computer virus of all time, causing more damage than anything like it before.
May 5, 2000 was just a very average day for the very average business supervisor. Though in just a couple of hours, it would quickly turn into a day of utter chaos and turmoil. Nearly every install of brand-new computer software damaged beyond repair, over 13,000 pieces of malware detected in just one office building, and soon, over $20 billion in damage seen all across the world. What happened?
These catastrophic events were the work of a new computer worm that was circulating the internet: “ILOVEYOU.”
Quite an ironic name, but it was derived from the fact that the worm would disguise itself as a love letter coming from a secret admirer. Lo and behold, the virus caused destroyed more computers than any of its predecessors. What exactly allowed it to cause this much damage, and how did it work?
The new computer worm was circulating the world wide web. Disguised as a love letter, the ILOVEYOU virus infected millions of computers around the world, causing collectively $20 billion in damage. ILOVEYOU has since been declared one of the most catastrophic computer viruses ever developed.