Internet meltdown fears

Experts have warned that the internet could grind to a halt on 1 August as a destructive virus explodes into action. The virus, known as the "Code Red" worm, has already infected hundred of thousands of computers worldwide and caused disruptions to the White House and Pentagon websites. Now the virus is set to strike again, at 1am British Summer Time on 1 August, bombarding government internet sites and bringing them to their knees. Users of Windows 95, 98 and Me cannot be infected, but these users are likely to see a slowdown of email and web services. According to security experts, the Code Red worm is designed to deface web pages with the phrase "Hacked by Chinese" by exploiting a flaw in Microsoft software. Over the first 20 days of a month, the worm spreads to any vulnerable computers it can find through the internet. Between the 20th and 27th of the month the worm launches an attack on the White House and other government websites. Computers running the Windows NT or Windows 2000 operating systems and Microsoft Corp's Internet Information Server (IIS) software version 4.0 or 5.0 are vulnerable to infection. Microsoft has issued a software patch on its website designed to protect computers against attack.