Student wrote virus similar to love bug as a thesis

School officials in the Philippines have confirmed that a college student wrote a password-stealing application similar to that used by the ILOVEYOU virus, according to press reports Tuesday.

Executive vice president of the AMA Computer College in the Philippines, told the Associated Press that a student had written the program as a thesis project and described the program as "very close" to the ILOVEYOU virus.

College vice president Manuel Abad, however, declined to identify the student in question.

The ILOVEYOU virus does not itself steal passwords, but once activated it attempts to download another application designed to capture network passwords.

A Filipino man was arrested Monday in connection with the virus but released by authorities because of a lack of evidence. Police in the Philippines are working with international law enforcers including the FBI as well as Britain's NCSI (National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre).

Reports suggest that investigators are trying to connect 10 different pseudonyms linked to the virus with real identities.

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