'Mydoom' strikes
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...ch/3442377.stm

'Mydoom' strikes

The latest email virus is said to be the biggest ever to hit the internet, and it's causing havoc.

The worm, known as "Mydoom" works by infecting the email system and sending copies of itself to people in your computer's address book.

Some data estimates that up to a third of all internet traffic is affected.

And the impact is huge; viruses like this one can cost millions of pounds in time wasted and technical support.

Filter

The hardest aspect of this virus, is that it's very difficult to know whether your computer has been affected.

One sign could be seeing a number of "undeliverable" messages in your inbox, but even then it's too late.

The best thing to do is install or download anti-virus software, as this will filter through your emails and warn you of problems.

This typically costs about £20-£30 year but must be regularly updated to keep ahead of new viruses.

Attack

Although they can cause havoc for individuals, viruses are often ultimately aimed at a particular organisation.


In the case of "Mydoom," it is believed be directed primarily at the company SCO, which has unpopular technical policies.

And on 1 February, emails from every address book affected are expected to bombard its system.

This method of attack has even been given a new name: "hactivism" - that is, hackers indulging in political activism.

Illegal

Robert Schifreen is a computer consultant with experience in this area; he was once arrested for hacking into computers.

He says, ""I was arrested for hacking into a computer rather than creating a virus.

"I simply did it to prove that computers were insecure and people weren't taking enough care of their information.

"At that time there was no law against that and when I was caught doing it I was acquitted because the Computer Misuse Act didn't exist.

"It does now, which is why computer hacking and writing viruses in this country is now illegal."

And Robert says that today's virus writers are a very different breed.

"I set out to prove a point; nowadays computer hackers and virus writers tend to do it because they want to create as much damage as possible, which is a disturbing way that things have been going," he says.

Protection

There are measures you can take to protect your computer, which are definitely worth the effort:

Beware of e-mails from unknown senders
Don't open unexpected attachments
Get software from reputable sources
Back up important files

you only just heard about this or what?