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Philippine investigators question former students in 'Love Bug' case
From: William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 12:04:42 -0500
http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,500205714-500286297-501542599-0,00.html By OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (May 18, 2000 12:55 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Philippine investigators on Thursday questioned at least seven former members of a group of students linked to the "Love Bug" computer virus that crippled e-mail systems worldwide. The former students at the Philippines' AMA Computer College denied any ties to the virus and claimed they are no longer active members of the group, called GRAMMERSoft, investigator Nelson Bartolome said. The seven were among about 40 people acknowledged in the computer code of a second virus found by investigators on a diskette seized from a Manila apartment where the "ILOVEYOU" virus is thought to have been launched, investigators said. Investigators attributed the second virus to Michael Buen, who graduated on May 5 from AMA college. Elfren Meneses, chief of the National Bureau of Investigation's anti-fraud and computer crimes division, said the diskette also contained a threat that appeared to have been written by Buen that warned: "If I don't get a stable job by the end of the month, I will release a third virus that will remove all files from the primary disk." The diskette was found in the apartment of Onel de Guzman, Buen's classmate and friend at AMA college. De Guzman, a member of GRAMMERSoft, has admitted he may have released the virus accidentally, but refused to say whether he wrote it. Meneses said only two of the seven had been summoned for questioning but the others, believing they would be next in line, volunteered to give statements. It is still uncertain what charges, if any, will be filed against suspects in the case since no Philippine law specifically addresses high-tech computer crimes. Buen earlier denied any involvement in making and spreading the "ILOVEYOU" virus. His lawyer, Florencio Dalupang, said Thursday that Buen also denied any involvement in the second virus, whose potential effects have not been disclosed by the NBI. "We cannot be sure about these diskettes that they found. According to Michael, anyone can just put names there," Dalupang said. The investigation focused on GRAMMERSoft after its name appeared in the Love Bug virus. It is a small group of AMA students said to be in engaged in writing programs, including thesis projects sold to other students for a fee. De Guzman was unable to graduate on May 5, a day after the virus was released, because school authorities rejected his thesis, saying it was a form of computer piracy designed to steal passwords so people could use the Internet for free, a feature similar to the "ILOVEYOU" virus. Meanwhile, Manuel Abad, executive vice president of AMA college, said another group of students called Programming Pools were angered by GRAMMERSoft's alleged links to the "ILOVEYOU" virus and volunteered to create an antidote. Karim Bangcola said about eight computer science students worked for a week to make the antidote. "We banded together and we analyzed the bug. We went through it, dissected each code and went to a solution that would reverse the action or effects of the bug," he said. "The problem now is there are so many strains." *-------------------------------------------------* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC --------------------------------------------------- C4I Secure Solutions http://www.c4i.org *-------------------------------------------------* ISN is sponsored by SecurityFocus.com --- To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of "SIGNOFF ISN".
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- Philippine investigators question former students in 'Love Bug' case William Knowles (May 18)