Filipino student admits releasing ILOVEYOU virus accidentally

He did not directly say whether he had written the ILOVEYOU’ virus, and claimed he was unsure whether he had released it into cyberspace.

"He is not really aware that the act imputed to him was done by him," his lawyer told reporters.

When asked whether he might have accidentally released the virus, de Guzman replised, "It is possible."

De Guzman is one of two students at the Philippines AMA Computer College who wrote computer programmes that have become a focus of the search for the origin of the ILOVEYOU’ virus.

The two are close friends, a school official said today.

The other programmer, Michael Buen, graduated May 5 from AMA in metropolitan Manila, and completed his studies with a thesis that acknowledged de Guzman.

De Guzman’s thesis project, designed to steal passwords from other computer users, was rejected as a form of high-tech theft, so he did not graduate.

Meanwhile in Washington, experts told a Congressional committee that hiring a "computer czar" to coordinate the government’s high-tech crime-fighting efforts and making it a federal crime to create a computer virus can help keep future "Love Bugs" from wreaking havoc. Harris Miller, president of Information Technology Association of America, told the House Science Technology subcommittee that the government needs to hire a point-person to send out immediate alerts when a destructive virus is going around.

"Not a big office, not a lot of staff … but someone who does have the authority and the ear of the President in coordinating responses across the government agencies," Miller said.

At least 14 agencies were hit by the Love Bug, including the Social Security Administration, the Energy Department, the CIA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Defence Department, said Keith Rhodes, director of computer and information technology assessment at the General Accounting Office.

Love Bug was the fastest-spreading and most destructive computer virus ever; it caused a flood of E-mails with the subject line "ILOVEYOU" to course through computer systems worldwide. When opened, the virus destroyed graphics and other files and damaged operating programs. Several variations appeared soon after. The virus also installed a password-stealing programme, experts said.