A.i.d.s. Virus In Computers (Press, 21 December 1989)

On 21 December 1989, police reported that a blackmail gang responsible for distributing the A.I.D.S. computer virus in Britain had expanded its operations globally, impacting users in countries such as Australia and South Africa. The alarming situation arose when thousands of computer users reached out to Scotland Yard’s Computer Crimes Unit for guidance after receiving the malicious disks. Investigations revealed that the disks had primarily been mailed from four areas in London: Victoria, Chelsea, South Kensington, and Oxford Street. Detectives suspected an individual identifying himself as E. Katema, who resides at an address on New Bond Street, was behind the distribution of approximately 20,000 disks targeted at hospitals, banks, commercial institutions, and private individuals. The disks were disguised as "A.I.D.S. Information Introductory Diskette" and came with a letter demanding payment of £238 (about $845) sent to a post office box in Panama. They were presented as questionnaires designed to help users evaluate their risk of contracting A.I.D.S., but instead, they infiltrated users' systems with a dangerous computer virus capable of causing extensive damage to stored data. The disks contained a warning indicating that failure to pay the demanded sum would result in the blackmailers remotely activating the virus each time the user attempted to reprogramme their computer. Scotland Yard officials advised users to refrain from using these disks to mitigate potential damage. Detectives were actively collaborating with Panamanian authorities to trace the ownership of the post office box involved and the funds deposited there. While there were unfounded claims suggesting that the police were investigating the possibility that an H.I.V. victim was responsible for the scheme, these theories had not been confirmed. The situation highlighted the serious implications of such cybercrime and the urgent need for users to protect their systems from malicious software.

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