Know all about the 2001 tennis player linked to a computer virus
The famous tennis player Anna Kournikova was linked to the 2001 tennis player computer virus. This was a computer virus created by Jan de Wit, a 20 year old Dutch student. He created this virus in hours using Visual basic worm generator program.
Initially he set the virus free in a newsgroup. When the members of the group clicked on the message it was an email attachment which contained the file name Annakournikova.jpg.vba. When this file was clicked it did not open the image of the tennis player Anna Kournikova but instead set free a viral VBscript that De Wit had written and forwarded itself to all the contacts.
Interestingly enough De Wit had downloaded the program on 11th February 2001 and released the virus on the same day itself. Within hours of it’s release the virus had affected millions of computers and crashed the email servers around the world.
It was a very clever move by De Wit as the images of Kournikova were one of the most searched topics of that time. This lured the users and they intrigued to see what was in the file. Little did they know that it was a malware to affect the computers.
What happened next?
Just two days later on February 13th. De Wit realized what he had done and the mass effect that this virus was having. The same day he posted his confession that he was the one who created the virus.
A day later FBI tracked his identity and De Wit surrendered himself infront of the police in his hometown. In his defense he said that he just wanted to see whether the security systems had been made better or not. Majorly because of the past virus like the ILOVEYOU virus in 2000.
De Wit also added that the users were also partly at fault. As they got intrigued by Kournikova’s beauty and wanted to see the image. He quote on quote said “It’s their own fault they got infected.”
De Wit was later put on trial and charged with malicious intention of trying to cause damage. The FBI even suggested that $166,000 worth of damages were done by the virus that he was liable to pay. Moreover if he was charged with the intention of causing damage. De Wit could have had a maximum sentence of four years. De Wit and his lawyers denied any intentions of causing damage. The case was settled when he was sentenced to 150 hours of community service.
De Wit surprisingly got a job offer from the mayor of Sneek his hometown. The mayor offered him a job at the city’s IT department. He stated the city should be proud to have such a talented young man.
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