'LOVE' HURTS E-MAIL VIRUS DISRUPTS SYSTEMS.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

A ``love letter'' virus infected computer e-mail systems across the country Thursday, slamming hundreds of thousands of computers at businesses, government agencies and in individual homes.

Experts said the new virus with the subject line ``ILOVEYOU'' spread far more prolifically, and caused more destruction, than the Melissa virus that hit computer systems last year.

In the San Fernando Valley area, damage ranged from minor inconveniences to serious problems after the virus attacked e-mail systems at Warner Bros., Southern California Edison and others.

Analysts with ICSA.net, a Reston, Va.-based Internet security firm, estimated the virus could cost businesses across the world up to $1 billion to clean up.

The virus -- which also has the attributes of a ``worm'' because it propels itself through computer networks -- primarily spreads when computer users open an attachment on the ``ILOVEYOU'' e-mail. Opening the attachment launches a virus that corrupts certain computer files, including MP3 music files and JPEG graphic files.

The virus also replicates itself by sending more ``ILOVEYOU'' e-mails to everyone on the address list of the original computer's Microsoft Outlook e-mail program. Melissa targeted only the first 50 names on the Outlook program.

``Relatively speaking this is a fairly damaging virus,'' said Peter Reiher, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles. ``It doesn't just try to spread around. This one is actually trying to do harm to people's computers.''

The virus is designed to do more than just destroy files, said Bruce Hughes, a senior lab analyst with ICSA.net. Unlike Melissa, the love letter virus can also spread through popular Internet Relay Chat programs that allow users to communicate instantly over the Internet.

And the virus also was designed to give its author access to infected computers' passwords and other confidential data, Hughes said. That data was to be sent to an e-mail address in the Philippines, but the e-mail address had been shut down, he said.

Experts said the virus began in East Asia and swept through Europe and then the United States. Some anti-virus companies updated their programs to deal with the virus by Thursday, but analysts say some variants of the virus, including an e-mail called ``joke'' or ``Fwd: Joke,'' already are circulating.

Several major San Fernando Valley companies had to deal with the virus Thursday.

Barbara Brogliatti, spokeswoman for Burbank-based Warner Bros., said the virus closed down or slowed much of the company's e-mail system. She said some workers received a dozen or more ``ILOVEYOU'' e-mails.

But Brogliatti said the virus has been mainly an inconvenience thus far.

``I think we all just got used to having our e-mail,'' she said.

At Woodland Hills-based Unova Corp., administrators temporarily shut down the firm's e-mail system as a precaution.

``Our system never went down because of the virus,'' said David Brooks, a company spokesman. ``We have a virus scanning program at the server level so it deletes any virus as soon as it's detected.''

Thanks to an early warning system, the House of Representatives managed to escape the full wrath of the virus, although its massive e-mail system was shut down for several hours Thursday afternoon as technicians sought a cure.

In Washington, most Congress members and their staffs were warned of the virus as early as 7 a.m. by local radio and TV reports. When most reported for work at 9 a.m., they found signs on their office doors and official warning messages on their phone mail.

The House phone mail system is designed so that users must listen to warning announcements before they can access any messages.

Among Capitol Hill's scattered virus victims was Rich Mills, an aide to Rep. David Dreier, R-Covina, who triggered a near-meltdown in his PC by opening an ``ILOVEYOU'' e-mail. Mills said that damage was limited to his computer and that there was no disruption of Dreier's office.

``When I get an e-mail that says `I love you,' I'm going to open it,'' explained Mills.

Gene Smith, aide to Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills, said two colleagues who came in early to work -- and prior to the warnings -- were rewarded for their diligence by having their computers lock up after they checked their e-mail. Damage was limited to their workstations.

The White House also reported several computers hit by the virus. By midday, technicians had reprogrammed the White House e-mail system to automatically delete the lethal messages.

Southern California Edison officials said proper training helped employees spot the virus -- and warn network administrators -- shortly after it appeared in the company's e-mail system.

Ron Netta, information technologies manager for the company, said the virus entered the company's e-mail system at 7 a.m. and was detected by employees and an anti-virus program about 15 minutes later. He said the company immediately stopped incoming e-mail and began cleaning out the 60 computers that had been infected.

Los Angeles County Chief Information Officer Jon Fullinwider said he heard about the virus on the radio on his way to work Thursday morning.

``I got the e-mail when I got to work,'' he said. ``I deleted it.''

He said the virus was sent to numerous county employees and he instructed department heads to notify their workers of the virus. As of Thursday afternoon, there were no reports anyone had opened the attachment, Fullinwider said.

Eddy Hsia, director of engineering for the Clinic anti-virus program for McAfee.com, said inadequate training about viruses had contributed to the ``love bug's'' rapid spread.

``I think it's just a lack of awareness,'' Hsia said. ``You get an e-mail from a friend that says 'I love you.' Are you going to delete it or open it?''

Staff Writers Chris Sieroty, Bill Hillburg and Troy Anderson contributed to this report.