Be careful what you catch

By Christina Okoli

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NOT so long ago a virus was something you beat off with a hot cup of cocoa and a slice of motherly love. But, as the Internet becomes an integral part of our daily lives, the mere mention of the word 'virus' is enough to send shivers down the spines of the most hardened computer boffins.

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Computer viruses are simple, but destructive pieces of code that latch onto computer programmes and trigger a range of adverse actions.�These can be as trivial as printing out whatever is on the computer's screen or as serious as wiping the hard-drive.

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Gone are the days when the best way to protect your computer from a virus was to ensure you didn't use dodgy floppy disks. With the proliferation of the Internet and the increased use of email, the circulation of viruses is faster and easier than ever.

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According to the world's leading virus busting company MessageLabs, the number of people with email accounts will hit one billion by the end of 2001. And, in the space of only three months, the company detected 155, 528 email viruses circulating the net, just waiting for unsuspecting victims.

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Last year, the business world was brought to its knees after a Filipino student released the so-called 'Love Bug', which was lurching inside an email entitled 'I Love You'. The virus contained an attachment which, when opened, executed a programme that sent copies of itself to everyone on the victim's address book and then started corrupting files on the victim's machine.

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Other big names on the email virus scene include the Melissa virus of May 2000, which spread in Microsoft Word documents sent over the Internet. As a result, Melissa became the fastest spreading virus of all time and forced many large companies to shut down their email systems for days. Another greatly feared email virus is the JS/Kak, which is designed to shut down the victim's Windows programme on the first day of every month.

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The list just gets crazier, as recent viruses have been known to take the shape of on-screen ladybirds�that munch away at the victims text, other viruses blare out obscene words from a computer's speakers.

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Yet the scariest fact about email viruses is that they are not only easy to catch, but are surprisingly easy to create, and can go unnoticed on a system for days. MessageLabs, the company credited with first stopping the 'I Love You' virus, predicts that business will boom within the coming years, as the number of email bugs is set to surge with the dawn of the Internet age. And, using the benefits of the Internet, malicious virus writers are less likely to be tracked down as they continue to enjoy the anonymity of cyberspace.

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Here are a few� tips on how 'kick a vir-ass'