ABA Family Legal Guide

Computer Law

Internet Issues

Viruses

How much of a problem are viruses?

The speed and danger of viruses is perhaps best illustrated by this quote from a U.S. Justice Department press release (December 9, 1999) announcing the guily plea of the perpetrator of of an infamous virus:

"The Melissa virus appeared on thousands of email systems on March 26, 1999, disguised as an important message from a colleague or friend. The virus was designed to send an infected email to the first 50 email addresses on the users' mailing lists. Such emails would only be sent if the computers used Microsoft Outlook for email.

"Because each infected computer could infect 50 additional computers, which in turn could infect another 50 computers, the virus proliferated rapidly and exponentially, resulting in substantial interruption or impairment of public communications or services. According to reports from business and government following the spread of the virus, its rapid distribution disrupted computer networks by overloading email servers, resulting in the shutdown of networks and significant costs to repair or cleanse computer systems."

The Melissa virus caused more than $80 million in damage by disrupting personal computers and computer networks in business and government.