Sony Estrada Valdez in 1986
Manipulating his 1st Apple PC
at DOST,Taguig City for the Science and Technology Category Competition,McDonald at ang Tagumpay ng Bata (MAKABATA)
Agoo Teener Among the first to fight the 'Love Bug' virus
by Vic Alhambra Jr. (The Philippine Star) May 23, 2000
AGOO, La Union - It takes a Filipino to counter the work of another Filipino.
A 16-year-old computer wizard from this town was the first to develop a software that disabled the dreaded ILOVEYOU virus that wreaked havoc on millions of computers around the world early this month.
Sony Valdez, a native of Barangay Sta. Barbara, single-handedly developed his antivirus software - the Contra Love Bug - four days after the virus began to spread.
Valdez said that two days after the virus hit computers in the United States and Europe, he was able to decode it and come up with an antidote.
A computer security company in Manila was also able to swat the virus, dubbed "Love Bug," at about the same time.
The virus, which caused at least $10 billion in total damages, was allegedly done by two computer engineering students from Manila now being investigated by local and US authorities.
Considered a whiz kid, Valdez has been into computer programming since he was seven. In 1996, at 12, he won the Makabata Award for science and technology and two years later topped the Youth Skills Competition.
However, he has never used his talents to hack into secured computer networks. Instead, he utilizes them in developing products for a computer school his family owns.
He will soon be releasing an electronic book containing Supreme Court decisions for the past 20 years.Searc his !e-library!Software for Lawyers at http://www.atty.ws
