The Cybersecurity Challenge

Abstract

More than two decades ago, computer users were terrified that a destructive and undetected virus called CIH might be present in the memory of their computers and become active on April 26 and delete programs in hard drives, flash the BIOS, and brick the motherboard. The date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Back then, IT support staff informed users not to open their PCs on that date so that it would not be activated. All the leading antivirus companies at the time developed fixes for that virus, and it was estimated that the virus caused damage equivalent to $250 million to $1 billion. Not long after that, an email arrived at users’ mailboxes with the subject “ILOVEYOU” and containing a Visual Basic Script attachment (Figure 1-1). This email used social engineering to trick users into opening the attachment. When opened, it exploited a Microsoft Outlook vulnerability, changed the file name extensions, and spread via email using the infected computer contacts. The ILOVEYOU worm infected 50 million computing systems with some impact on many government bodies, intelligence agencies, and military institutions.