DATE=5/10/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=LOVE BUG COMPUTER VIRUS
NUMBER=5-46289
BYLINE=DAVID MCALARY
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
INTERNET=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Computer security experts warn that computer
viruses like the so-called "Love Bug" from the
Philippines are spreading faster and becoming more
damaging each year. As Science Correspondent David
McAlary tells us, private and public organizations are
not doing enough to protect themselves from Internet
attacks, although the tools and practices to do so
exist.
TEXT: Technical experts testifying to the U-S House
of Representatives science committee say the "Love
Bug" virus circulated through e-mail worldwide on the
same day of its dissemination on May fourth. Keith
Rhodes of the General Accounting Office - the
investigating arm of Congress - points out the virus
forced businesses, government agencies, schools, the
International Monetary Fund, and Britain's Parliament
to shut down their computer networks for protection
and repair.
/// RHODES ACT ///
It shows again that computer attack tools and
techniques are becoming increasingly
sophisticated. Viruses are spreading faster as
a result of the increasing connectivity of
today's networks and there is no silver bullet
(single) solution to protecting systems. No one
thing is going to solve the problem.
/// END ACT ///
The impact of the Love Bug virus was breathtaking. It
was the fastest spreading and the most expensive in
history. Peter Tippett - chief technology official of
I-C-S-A-dot-net, a company that provides services to
computer security firms - says the Love Bug continued
a long trend. In the first half of the 1990's,
leading viruses took three-years to spread and cost
just 50-million dollars combined. Mr. Tippett says
each new one since has been speedier and costlier.
/// TIPPETT ACT ///
Last Thursday, the Love Bug virus was the
number-one virus and it took about four-hours to
go from birth to the number-one spot. We are
currently projecting about 950-million dollars
of damage in North American businesses due to
the Love Bug virus.
/// END ACT ///
A California research firm called Computer Economics
estimates the global cost of the virus to be nearly
seven-billion dollars.
The experts told Congress that computer users are
largely to blame for their vulnerability to such
Internet attacks. The General Accounting Office's
Keith Rhodes puts it this way.
/// RHODES ACT ///
The world is not practicing safe computing.
/// END ACT ///
Sandra England of the McAfee company - which produces
anti-computer virus software - says the Love Bug virus
caught many organizations unprepared, despite the
disruption they suffered by a virus last year called
Melissa.
/// ENGLAND ACT ///
There are tools to protect systems from these
attacks. With the outbreak of Melissa last
year, one would think that organizations would
have taken virus threats seriously. However,
many organizations still have not changed their
practices and their internal policies to respond
to new virus threats.
/// END ACT ///
Ms. England suggests one reason for this is that the
damage is intangible, not physical. Furthermore, she
says implementing adequate virus protection is
expensive.
Yet Harris Miller - president of the Information
Technology Association of America - says protection is
vital because Internet assaults by computer hackers
will not stop.
/// MILLER ACT ///
There is a subculture out there that is actively
plotting its next move. The Love Bug can be
seen as an evolutionary link in the hacking
chain.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Miller and the other experts say the solution is
to educate managers, employees, and the home computer
user about the threat and how to assess risks. They
say the education should include information about
using anti-virus technology and controls on several
levels - from organization-wide down to the individual
desktop computer. The experts also say the
effectiveness of these practices should be routinely
tested.
Mr. Miller says competing companies usually reluctant
to share information must collaborate on computer
security issues. He notes that his Information
Technology Association of America is developing
mechanisms to do this. He also says his organization
is hosting the first global computer security summit
involving experts from many nations next October in
Washington.
/// MILLER ACT ///
This bug originated outside the United States.
It appears in the Philippines. So we must have
a global approach to meeting these challenges.
/// END ACT ///
(SIGNED)
NEB/DEM/RAE
10-May-2000 13:24 PM EDT (10-May-2000 1724 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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