A new computer “worm” is being described by some as the fastest-spreading virus ever, and an Iowa expert says one of every twelve e-mails on the internet contains the malignant program. Jeff Gullion is a computer instructor at Des Moines Area Community College, which had a near-miss with the virus in its own computers.Monday afternoon DMACC’s information technology department detected it, and set up the network’s firewalls to keep it out. Gullion says it’s called MyDoom and it tries to take over computers and use them to send a barrage of messages. He says it has a program that makes it hard to track and hard to fight, one of the worst since people have been tracking viruses. Gullion has advice for computer owners who hope to evade the latest virus. Watch out for attachments to an e-mail from strangers, or even from a friend who seems to be sending a file with a title that doesn’t make sense, a clue that their computer’s infected and sending the virus out. The best thing people can do is not open e-mail unless it’s from someone you know and trust, and has a personalized message in the e-mail. It’s a good time to get an antivirus program if your computer doesn’t have one, or to update your program as the software companies are making a “patch” to fight the new worm.
