The Love Letter virus has infected an estimated 80% of South African and US Internet-connected computers, according to Robyn Weeda, marketing and communications manager for Symantec Middle East and Africa.
"We believe the virus is spreading more than twice as fast as Melissa," says Weeda, "as it sends itself to all of your contacts, not just the first 50."
"I have been involved in this industry since 1989, and there is no question: we have never had a virus that moved so fast and caused so much disruption in such a short time," says Ian Melamed, MD of Secure Computing.
Damage is estimated to be millions of rands, due to loss of productivity, revenue and cost of support. Melamed estimates that the damage to business-to-business e-commerce due to loss of services and loss of faith in the technology will cost about R50 million to R60 million.
Particularly damaging for the Internet's image, says Melamed, was disruption to the anti-viral Web sites due to high traffic. "The problem is that we rely on the problem - the Internet - to try and get the solution." He believes that satellite should be used to deliver security measures to companies' local area networks.
"I have been involved in this industry since 1989, and there is no question: we have never had a virus that moved so fast and caused so much disruption in such a short time."
Ian Melamed, MD, Secure Computing
There are an estimated 18 copycats at last count, which are expected to cause more damage than the original.
Symantec reports a 600% increase in support calls to its Dublin-based support centre. Locally, SecureData reported several hundred calls during a two-hour period. Secure Computing reported over 700 calls yesterday and Melamed says they have lost count today.
Related stories:
Share
