The first computer virus in the Philippines is ILOVEYOU, also known as the Love Bug or Love Letter virus. It was created by Onel de Guzman, a Filipino computer science student, and was released on May 4, 2000. De Guzman, at the time, was a student at AMA Computer College in Manila. While he was suspected of being the sole author, the case against him was ultimately dropped as there was no Philippine law at the time specifically covering computer viruses. This incident spurred the Philippines and other countries to create legislation against such cybercrimes.

The ILOVEYOU virus spread rapidly through email with the subject line “ILOVEYOU” and an attachment named “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt.vbs”. When users opened the attachment, the virus would overwrite files, steal passwords, and automatically send itself to all contacts in the victim’s Microsoft Outlook address book. The use of Visual Basic Script (VBS) made it relatively easy to propagate through Windows systems, which were dominant at the time. The “txt.vbs” extension was often hidden by default in Windows, further tricking users into thinking it was a harmless text file.

The ILOVEYOU virus caused an estimated $10 billion in damages worldwide and infected millions of computers, making it one of the most destructive computer viruses in history. The rapid spread overwhelmed email servers globally, causing significant disruptions to businesses and communication. It highlighted the vulnerability of computer systems to email-borne attacks and led to increased awareness of cybersecurity threats. The economic impact stemmed from lost productivity, the cost of repairing infected systems, and the disruption to business operations.