Thursday May 4 10:12 AM ET
'I Love You' Bug Hits Computers
By DIRK BEVERIDGE, Associated Press Writer
A computer virus first noticed in Asia spread by e-mail messages titled
``ILOVEYOU'' infected computers around the world today, snarling
communication from investment banks to parliaments.
Experts said they were stunned by the speed and wide reach of the virus
- and nobody seemed to know of an immediate cure.
``It may be the most comprehensive spreading that I have seen,'' said
Snorre Fagerland of the computer security company Norman in Oslo,
Norway, where the virus struck an untold number of companies.
The bug appeared in Hong Kong late in the afternoon, spreading
throughout e-mail systems once a user opened one of the contaminated
messages. It later moved into European parliamentary houses and through
the high-tech systems of big companies and financial traders.
The ``love bug'' also invaded some computers in the United States this
morning, but there was no immediate word on the severity.
``I have to tell you that, sadly, this affectionate greeting contains a
virus which has immobilized the House's internal communication system,''
said Margaret Beckett, leader of Britain's House of Commons. ``This
means that no member can receive e-mails from outside, nor indeed can we
communicate with each other by e-mail.''
In Asia, Dow Jones Newswires and the Asian Wall Street Journal were
among the victims. The bug affected only e-mail and did not prevent Dow
Jones Newswires from distributing financial information to traders. The
Asian Wall Street Journal would have no problems publishing, officials
there said.
But the e-mail systems went wild.
``It crashed all the computers,'' said Daphne Ghesquiere, a Dow Jones
spokeswoman in Hong Kong. ``You get the message and the topic says
ILOVEYOU, and I was among the stupid ones to open it. I got about five
at one time and I was suspicious, but one was from Dow Jones Newswires,
so I opened it.''
Once the message was opened, Ghesquiere said, it began sending the
virus to other e-mail addresses within the Dow Jones computers, blocking
people's ability to send and receive e-mail. Victims sometimes received
dozens of e-mails, all contaminated.
``I have no idea how it got through the firewall,'' Ghesquiere said.
``It's supposed to be protected.''
The virus posed its biggest threat to corporate users, because it
apparently had the ability to spread to the first 300 e-mail addresses
in affected accounts, expert Ross Wilson said.
``It's not pretty,'' said Wilson, the Singapore-based Southeast Asia
director of Symantec, a U.S.-based company that makes anti-virus
software. ``It's got the capability of spreading very, very quickly.''
In Denmark, the parliament, telecom company Tele Danmark, channel TV2
and the Environment and Energy Ministry were all affected starting this
morning.
``We have no clue how it got in,'' said Hugo Praestegaard of the
Environment and Energy
Ministry.
The virus hit the Swiss federal government computer network late in the
morning, said Claudio Frigerio of the Federal Office for Information
Technology in Bern. The system was switched off immediately to stop the
virus from spreading.
Bank, hospital and national television e-mail networks in Switzerland
were also affected, Frigerio said.
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