Irish computer-users have been warned of an international virus which experts say became prevalent in Ireland yesterday.
Security communication specialists Systemhouse Technology told ireland.com this morning many computer-users can expect to find the so-called Anna Kournikova virus in their email inbox today.
The virus tricks email recipients into thinking they are about to view a picture of glamourous tennis star Anna Kournikova.
A spokesman for Systemhouse said: "We suspect that a lot of people arriving to work this morning may find this lurking in their email inbox, especially if they have email correspondents in other timezones such as the US or Australia who could have been affected by it in the last 12 to 18 hours."
He said: "However, as all the major anti-virus companies get their customers updated this worm should be contained pretty quickly. Also its 'payload' thankfully is merely to propagate itself and not do anything more destructive."
The virus - which earlier overwhelmed email services across the US and Europe - is also expected to hit tens of thousands of Australian computers-users, said Australian-based anti-virus research company Trend Micro.
Managing director Mr Kenny Liao said his company knew of at least 50,000 Australian computer-users who had been hit.
At least 15 corporations in Australia had been affected severely. These included a leading retailer, an information technology firm and several non-profit organisations, Mr Liao said.
"If we look at the total number of users that have been reported to us and consider we are only contacting a small portion of the Australian population, the estimation would be more than 100,000," he said.
The virus had slowed down email systems dramatically and threatened to spread as rapidly as last May's devastating "I Love You" virus, which caused tens of millions of dollars damage worldwide.
Mr Liao said the virus does not permanently damage computers but many local companies would be forced to shut down email and carry out a complete clean-up of the email system.
Additonal reporting by AFP
