please give a response to my classmate’s discussion post listed. Melissa Virus
In 1999, a programmer named David Lee Smith hacked AOL (America Online) and used it to upload a file on a newsgroup. The file was named “alt.sex” and it promised free passwords to fee-based websites that offered adult content. Upon downloading the document, a virus was unleashed and spread. This virus would take over Microsoft Word and then used it to escalate and hijack their email system, Microsoft Outlook and send messages to the first 50 mailing lists. The emails contained attachments with this virus, and it operated as an automated chain letter. Email servers became overloaded, and some had to be shut down entirely including some at Microsoft. One million email accounts were affected, and Internet traffic became very slow. The damage of this virus was an estimate of 80 million for the cleanup and repair of systems. A very important piece of evidence became from a tip from a representative of AOL and working with the FBI and law enforcement, they were able to trace the electronic fingerprints on the virus back to Smith, who got arrested in April 1999. This virus showed how hard it is to trace any virus back to its source and without cooperation, the suspect might not have ever been identified. Mark Stevens, the operations manager for Monmouth Internet provided law enforcement with a list of names of their customers who used a specific IP address to send and receive information to the Internet. Among those names, David L. Smith was on there. Officials also believed that Mr. Smith was another known hacker called VicodinES but Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for Mr. Stevens, denied the claim. Richard Smith, a software developer from Cambridge Mass., alerted FBI officials that Mr. Smith’s name appeared in documents found in a website in Florida that was related to VicodinES. To this day, he still believes they are the same person. Without the tip from the AOL worker and tracing back the virus, law enforcement would’ve caught the wrong person since they believed that VicondinES was a certain individual whose account got stolen/hacked.
An investigator being assigned to this case today would handle it differently in terms of documentation and presentation since more cyberlaws have been implemented and the proper chain of custody needs to be maintained so evidence is admissible in court. Evidence in a cybercrime can range from computers, cellphones, automobile navigation system, video game consoles, or any other networked device. Cybercrime investigators work with internet service providers, telecommunications, and network companies to see which websites and protocols were used in the crime. This technique is also useful for monitoring future activities through digital surveillance. Investigators must seek permission to conduct these types of activities through search warrants.
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/melissa-virus
https://www.justice.gov/archive/criminal/cybercrime/press-releases/2002/melissaSent.htm
Information Security: The Melissa Computer Virus Demonstrates Urgent Need for Stronger Protection Over Systems and Sensitive Data: T-AIMD-99-146. (1999). GAO Reports, 1.
Kocieniewski, David. (1999) Melissa Virus Suspect Caught. The New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/biztech/articles/03melissa.html
Nelson, M., & Briody, D. (1999). IT managers regroup after Melissa hits. InfoWorld, 21(14), 1.
