London, May 4: A computer virus dubbed the `LoveBug' caused havoc withcomputer systems worldwide on Thursday, shutting down email servers at majorcompanies and penetrating the Pentagon and Britain's parliament. Companiesacross Europe, North America, Asia and Australia are said to have been hitby the virus, raising fears of a repeat of the Melissa virus which causedchaos in the United States last year.The world's biggest wireless telecom firm, Vodafone AirTouch Plc, shut downits email system because of the "Love Bug" and London's House of Commonsalso succumbed and closed its email system for about two hours while iteradicated it. "We've got the `I Love You' virus," a Vodafone spokesman toldReuters in London. "It's very widespread and I believe many of the majorcorporates are affected."
The new virus originates in an email entitled "I love you" and reading:"kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me". Once the attachmentis launched, the virus sends copies of the same email to everybody in theuser's address book.
It targets Microsoft Corp's Outlook software and works on the same Principleas the Melissa virus, which infected about a million computers, cloggingwhole networks in the United States and causing $80 million in damage inearly 1999. The virus also overwrites picture and music files from local andnetwork drives.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.