New 'Love' bug suspect named
AMA Computer College's executive vice president, Ramon Abad, admitted that one of its students may have been the author of the "ILOVEYOU" virus. The student, Onel de Guzman, 23, had proposed to submit as his graduation thesis a "Trojan horse" program that steals passwords, much like the "ILOVEYOU" virus.
According to de Guzman's "Trojan horse" thesis proposal, the reason for conducting his thesis study is so that "... people, specially Internet users, can get Windows passwords, such as Internet accounts, to spend more time on the Internet without paying."
The proposal was disapproved by Russel L. Diona, thesis committee chairman and dean of the College of Computer Sciences. Diona laced the thesis proposal with handwritten comments such as "This is Illegal!" and "We do not produce burglars."
De Guzman is a sibling of Irene de Guzman, girlfriend of Reomel Ramones, a suspect earlier arrested and released by the NBI.
De Guzman also resided at the residence raided by the NBI but is said not have been staying there for a while.
Abad also admitted that the name of another AMA student, Michael Buen, also came up in the college's student list when compared with a set of names the NBI wanted the school to check out. De Guzman failed to graduate while Buen has finished his schooling. Both are being sought by the authorities.
The Department of Justice has requested the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation to issue a hold order for Ramones to prevent him from fleeing the country until charges against him have been cleared.
It seems that most of the world is still reeling from the shock of the cutely and seductively named ILOVEYOU virus. Go with Peter Coffee to AnchorDesk UK and read the news comment to find out how easy it was and the perils that lie ahead.
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Go to ZDNet's ILOVEYOU Special Report