VIRUS MANIA

Jan 2001 – 5’40


LEAD IN

Last week, it was the Kournikova virus.
Last year, the Love Bug.
These are just some of the most infamous examples of computer viruses that
cause billions of dollars of damage, to say nothing of the frustration
caused to millions of PC users.
But how can the hackers cause such chaos ? And can anything be done to
prevent them ? We investigate.


SCRIPT:

There are hundreds of computer viruses out there, some more contagious than
others.
Like the Tequila virus.
The Suicide virus.
The Hellraiser virus.
An inner London home at breakfast time - where American businessman Bart
Hutchinson is getting his children ready for school.

The two children are Bart's job in the morning but once they're fed and off,
he runs his US property business from an office upstairs.

UPSOT: "Lauren, would you like some melon?"
Working from home allows Bart to spend time with his children. Central
London rents are among the highest in the world so having an office at home
keeps business costs from spiralling out of control.
UPSOT : running down stairs

A quick walk from home to school and Bart can gear up for a busy day of
answering questions from colleagues and customers based on the West Coast of
the US - eight hours behind London.
But two months ago Bart lost everything when the Love Bug virus bit him.
And it's been a slow and tedious process getting things re-booted and the
business up and running again.

SOT - BART HUTCHINSON, BUSINESSMAN:
"It's key for me to get a lot of things done during the day so that it
arrives on people's desk first thing in the morning on the West Coast. So
that's typically what's worked well for me and then not having it, it's very
constraining. It's frustrating."

SOT - GRAHAM CLULEY, DIRECTOR, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, SOPHOS:
"I think one of the problems is that everybody is using the same software.
Everyone is using Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Outlook.
So, if you're a virus author you know what to attack. You attack the
homogenous environment which everyone all around the world is using and that
way viruses can spread very, very quickly."

Here at Sophos, in the Oxfordshire countryside, they've made a
multi-million dollar business out of offering security to those dependent on
computers.

They've seen the havoc hackers can wreak and have learnt who the people ARE
behind this gratuitous damage.

SOT - GRAHAM CLULEY, DIRECTOR, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, SOPHOS:
"The average virus writer is first of all male - girls don't seem to write
viruses, they're into other things. But, they're male, they're typically
between 14 and 28. They call themselves names like the dark avenger, the
black baron, slarty bartfarts, colostomy bag boy. So, they're creating this
fantasy image of themselves. Eventually, they grow up, they think virus
writing is less important. They get themselves a girlfriend, they stop
writing viruses. There's a whole bunch of kids waiting to take their place.
They're not necessarily all bad kids. They've got good relationships with
computers but they're not so good at social relationships. And I think
they're not really thinking about the consequences of what they're doing
with a virus."

At Sophos, the systems are super bug-proof. They have to be.

Their nerve centre is built to military specifications - no bugs
or even a bomb can infiltrate this high-tech fortress.

But it's not just about protecting business.

Here at Janet-Cert they monitor computers for three-hundred
academic insitutions.
SOT _ ANDREW CORMACK, DIRECTOR, JANET-CERT:
"At the moment we're seeing probably a doubling every year. I think last
year we were handling 130, 140 incidents a month. We're now over 300 a
month and we see no sign of that slowing down."

At Sophos they're always looking to the future, keeping a watch for the
next bug and trying to stay one step ahead of virus spreaders.

They preach proper computer hygiene - to keep viruses out. Once a new virus
is identified Sophos will come up with software patches - programmes written
to block a specific bug.

SOT - GRAHAM CLULEY, DIRECTOR, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, SOPHOS, PART
OVERLAID:
"Anti-virus software isn't perfect. It can detect the viruses it knows
about but not the ones it doesn't know about. It's rather like saying 'Oh,
I've got a doctor and that way I'm not going to catch a cold or the
measles.' You also have to take your own preventative measures so we
recommend people practise safe computing. One of the things you should do
is avoid opening unsolicited attachments. If you receive an attachment
you're not expecting in your e-mail, don't just blindly open it because it
could be a virus infection."

After two full days of piecing his system back together again, Bart
Hutchinson has installed some cutting edge anti-virus software. But he's
learned his lesson the hard way - with 522 corrupted files.

SOT - BART HUTCHINSON, BUSINESSMAN:
"There were roughly 500, I think the correct number that the anti-virus
software came up with was 522 of which then you had to go through and
manually click on them, go to delete file and delete file and you had to go
through that 522 times.''

Viruses like these, far from being shadowy problems, present a real threat
to businesses large and small.
And many - like Bart Hutchinson - have learned that prevention is far easier
than cure.

ENDS