|
|
Change Your Life! |
Investigators don't love "ILOVEYOU" hacker |
|
News
|
|
|
September 6, 2000
MANILA (AP) - Philippine investigators asked Justice Department prosecutors Tuesday to reconsider a decision to dismiss criminal charges against a former computer student accused of releasing the "ILOVEYOU" computer virus. A panel of prosecutors dismissed the charges against Onel de Guzman two weeks ago, saying they did not apply to computer hacking and there was insufficient evidence showing an intent to gain from the virus. At the time the computer virus was released May 4, the Philippines had no law against computer hacking. Instead, investigators charged de Guzman, a former student at the Philippines' AMA Computer College, with traditional crimes such as theft and violation of an "access devices" law which normally applies to fraud using credit cards. While rapidly replicating itself, the virus collected Internet passwords from infected computers and sent them to several e-mail accounts in the Philippines. Investigators said Tuesday they were accusing de Guzman of fraud, not simply computer hacking, in applying the access devices law. Federico Opinion, head of the National Bureau of Investigation, said violators of the law need not use a credit card to commit a crime. |