ITALY: FAO HIT BY "I LOVE YOU" COMPUTER VIRUS

Описание: (5 May 2000) English/Nat

The U-N Food and Agriculture Organisation (F-A-O) has been struck down by the "I Love You" computer virus.

The Rome-based agency is one of the worst-affected organisations in the Italian capital.
Complications caused them to shut down their entire computer network on Friday.

The virus first entered the F-A-O computer system through the organisation's Cairo office, before spreading to other bureaux - including the headquarters in Rome.

F-A-O officials based in Italy say they're hoping to reactivate the system on Saturday morning when they assess the damage the virus may have caused.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We don't yet know exactly how many of our P-Cs have been affected, probably about two hundred of the 3-thousand in the headquarters, it may be a few more. But we won't know that until we fully reactivate the network and test them all. So in monetary terms our damage has been relatively small. But we don't know, we can not quantify that damage at this time."
SUPER CAPTION: John Reid, Chief of Information and Technology for the FAO

Computer experts say the so-called "love letter" e-mail virus may have originated in the Philippines.

The impact of the virus appears to be waning, but there are now copycat viruses to watch out for, including one disguised as a joke.

The virus weaves its way into a computer's hard drive and wipes out files.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"This morning however, as we got the anti-virus tools operating we decided to shut down the system in order to make an assessment to understand what kinds of effects this virus had on us, and for the most part of this day until this afternoon our e-mail system has been shut down "
SUPERCAPTION: Christina Engfeldt, Director of Information, FAO

The virus has already overwhelmed tens of (m) millions of computers around the globe, from Hong Kong to Washington.

The person behind the devastating "I Love You" computer virus hid behind a screen of hacked e-mail accounts and pre-paid Internet user cards, according to an internet service provider in the Philippines.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...