A member of the Virus Hall of Fame appeared exactly 6 years ago. The famous Melissa virus started spreading on March 26, 1999. Tens of thousands of infected emails spread within hours. Microsoft shut down their email system temporarily to prevent further spread. David Lee Smith was arrested only 4 days after Melissa was detected. He was tried in May 2002 and sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined $2,500. However, he actually only served 20 months: the sentence was reduced in view of his cooperation with the prosecution and offers to help track down other virus writers.”]
Source: https://securelist.com/the-melissa-virus-struck-6-years-ago-today/29986/