DATE=4/5/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LOVE VIRUS (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-262013
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  If you get a computer e-mail message entitled 
"I love you," hit the delete key -- quickly!  Experts 
say the enticing message is probably a nasty computer 
virus that is causing chaos for computer users around 
the world.  As V-O-A's Jim Randle reports, even some 
of the people who help guard the Pentagon's computer 
networks have been affected by the "love bug." 


TEXT:  If a computer user opens a message with the "I 
love you" computer virus, the errant program will seek 
out the user's e-mail address book, and send duplicate 
messages to every name in the book.

The result is an electronic form of reproduction that 
threatens to disable computer networks around the 
world by overloading them with millions of extra 
messages.

The press spokesman for the U-S Military's center for 
computer network defense, Major Perry Nouis, says the 
virus does more than just cause traffic jams on the 
information superhighway.

            /// Nouis Act ///

      It's much more mischievous in the fact that it 
      actually affects files on individual computer 
      systems.  In goes in and overwrites (erases) 
      files, it will mirror or duplicate files, and it 
      will corrupt data.  It is a virus that is pretty 
      much insidious.

            /// End Act ///

Major Nouis says Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado 
Springs, Colorado had to shut down its e-mail system 
because of the virus.

The base is home to some of the experts who guard the 
Air Force's thousands of computer networks.  It is a 
few kilometers down the road from the North American 
Air Defense Command, the group that scans the skies 
for attacking ballistic missiles.

Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon says the virus also 
affected computer networks at the military 
headquarters, but he insists no weapons or secrets 
were affected.

            /// Bacon Act ///

      (There is) absolutely no evidence this has 
      infected any classified (secret) computer 
      networks.

            /// End Act ///

It did, however, affect the non-secret computer 
networks used for routine business in many military 
and government offices, including the C-I-A and the 
White House.

Officials at the White House and the intelligence 
agency say the virus attack was spotted quickly and 
corrected before it had any noticeable affect on the 
day's work.

Officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation say 
they have opened a criminal investigation of the virus 
attack.

The British Parliament had to shut down its e-mail 
service for a while to slow the spread of the annoying 
program, and the U-S Congress also reported some 
problems with its computer systems.

Virus attacks by the new computer bug are also 
reported by businesses around the world, the U-S Army 
in Europe, the Voice of America office in Washington, 
and many businesses in Britain, Denmark, Switzerland, 
Hong Kong, and the United States.  One report says the 
virus first appeared in the Philippines capital, 
Manila.  Computer experts say the virus seems to hit 
Microsoft e-mail programs particularly hard.  They say 
users can protect themselves by deleting, rather than 
opening, messages labeled "I love you."   (Signed)

NEB/JR/JP




04-May-2000 17:13 PM EDT (04-May-2000 2113 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.