Thousands of Irish companies and Government agencies are to be issued this morning with an antidote to a new computer virus which is wreaking havoc across the globe.
Called Melissa, the "macro" virus is being spread through the Internet, causing pornography-related documents to be e-mailed to other people without warning.
The computer giant, Microsoft, suspended all incoming and outgoing Internet mail for the weekend after discovering the virus last Friday. One division of Intel Corp also was badly affected. Some of its main computers which distribute e-mail collapsed under the strain of the repeated messaging.
A US Department of Defence-funded computer security team in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University has issued a global warning on the virus, only the second such announcement it has made since it was founded 10 years ago. The first, in 1994, warned of a virus that allowed computer burglars to collect passwords.
Mr Alec Florence, managing director of the Irish anti-virus software company, Priority Data Systems, said it was the worst virus it had come across in recent times.
"It takes a lot for Microsoft to pull down their service," he said, adding the virus was set to spread considerably today as people return to work.
The company is issuing an urgent "fix" to current customers, including the Revenue Commissioners, the Central Bank, AIB and the Smurfit Group.
Mr Florence said the company had to issue four such fixes last year. This was the third this year, which reflected the proliferation of computer bugs. "There are about 40,000 viruses out there but you only get one like this every so often. It does not compromise data but it's very easily spread and could do a lot of damage."
The virus attacks computers loaded with Microsoft's widely used Word 97 or Word 2000 programmes and is contained in attachments to e-mails which bear a heading "important message". The text contains information on porn Web-sites and reads, "Here is that document you asked for . . . don't show anyone else."
When the attachment is opened, a computer programme replicates the message, sending it to the first 50 names in the recipient's address book. According to some reports, the contents of any Word document that is open on the computer can be included within the message. If this was the case, it could pose a security threat and compromise the confidentiality of electronic mail.
More information can be found at www.cert.org/advisories
