Authorities Break 'LoveBug' Author's Heart
The author of the worst virus spread in history has been detained by Phillipino authorities. The 27-year old China Bank employee was arrested at his home today, after authorities searched his house and seized as many as 17 items, none of them being a computer. After three days of investigation, and original thoughts that the author may be a woman, Romel Lamores was taken into custody by authorities under the Access Device Act, which allowed them to obtain the original search warrant. Crimes under this law carry a maximum 20-year jail sentence. Lamores' 23-year old girlfriend is expected to turn herself in sometime today as well, as authorities believe her computer was used to launch the virus.
One of the key pieces of evidence involves the password-stealing trojan entitled WIN-BUGSFIX.exe. This trojan, created in January of this year by a user with the alias Spyder, appears to be an important part of the ILOVEYOU virus.
Found in the ILOVEYOU component are tag lines created by the original author of the WIN-BUGSFIX trojan, also known as Barok, and very few other differences. This has lead authorities to believe that the creator of Barok and the creator of the ILOVEYOU virus is the same person, known on the net as Spyder.
One computer expert in Sweden has stated that he believes the creator of the virus is an 18-year old German exchange student now living in Australia, although there is no conclusive evidence to suggest this individual is involved.
Keep checking back as the story develops.