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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 1: So Big It's Scary

For the last couple weeks, computer experts were worried about an Internet "worm" called Blaster that spread to hundreds of thousands of computers around the world. Unfortunately, this week worries increased when another worm, called SoBig.F, began to spread in the United States. Experts say SoBig, unlike Blaster, is very well made, and very damaging to computer systems.

SoBig is much worse than Blaster. SoBig has already been declared the fastest spreading email virus ever. SoBig comes as a file attachment in an email with a subject line that says something like "Re:Details," "Thank You!" "Re:Your Application," or "That movie." When people open the attachment, the worm begins to copy and send itself to all the other e-mail address in that person's computer, and leaves the computer open to the worm's creator, who is currently unknown, so that he or she may be able to use the infected computers to send "spam" messages in the future.

SoBig.Fig has caused personal computers and business networks around the country to crash or slow down, and even temporarily slowed the systems at major organizations like Lockheed Martin, a technology development company. Internet virus protection companies have reported that they are intercepting millions of emails per day that are infected with the SoBig.F, and they expect it to get worse. Experts are already predicting that it will increase Internet traffic so much that systems worldwide could be slowed down drastically.

In addition to deleting emails from people you don't know or emails that have suspicious subjects, computer virus and software experts say people should be sure their anti-virus software is always up-to-date.

--Written by Nia Williams

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2: Open Up and Say...Eeeeeeeew!