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> Malevolent CIH virus expected Monday
> By Reuters
> Special to CNET News.com
> April 22, 1999, 3:15 p.m. PT
>
> A virus that can wipe out all the data on a personal computer's hard drive and even make it impossible to
> start programs is set to hit next Monday, security experts warned.
>
> The malicious piece of software code has been turning up in PCs for months, but the version that will strike
> Monday is the most-feared variation. To date, little real damage has been caused by the CIH virus, although
> some large companies have reported minor incidents.
>
> CIH, also called the "space filler" virus, originated in Asia last summer and hits on the 26th of each month. CIH
> 1.2 appears once a year in April, and is the "most prevalent and dangerous" form of the virus, said Sal Viveros,
> marketing vice president for Network Associates, a computer security company.
>
> The CIH virus is far more dangerous to individual computers than Melissa, the much-publicized bug that spread
> relatively benign problems far and wide on the Internet last month. CIH can irretrievably destroy data on a user's
> computer and even make the machine inoperable, while Melissa really caused embarrassment, by sending a
> list of porn sites from a target computer's email address book, and tied up some corporate email systems with
> traffic.