Melissa virus: have we learned anything?

The notorious Melissa virus struck networks for the first time three years ago today but experts warn more dangerous viruses are waiting just around the corner.

The lethal virus, which caused damage worth $80m globally, was the first ever email-bound executable virus.

The virus managed to close down government systems and businesses worldwide because it took users completely by surprise.

But despite wide publicity afforded to malware like Melissa, the Love Bug and Code Red as well as reportedly heightened security awareness, worse is to come if anti-virus experts are to be believed.

Jack Clark, product manager at anti-virus specialist Network Associates (NAI), told silicon.com: "There could be another Melissa tomorrow. The reason I say this is because we will see new ways of sharing files and whenever we come up with a new way of sharing files, someone comes up with another way to cause havoc with the system."

Eric Chien, chief researcher at Symantec anti-virus labs, said: "Malware has evolved to nasty blended threats such as Code Red and Nimda. There could be another major outbreak of these worms which employ hacker exploits."

Companies are more aware of malware now, NAI's Clark added.

He said: "Firms have been investing more money on virus protection but the battle is not over because the virus writers are always coming up with new ways to cause damage. The latest .Net virus is a good example."

However, experts claim we have learned valuable lessons from Melissa.

Chien said: "Melissa taught users not to double click on everything they receive via email. Now we have to keep on telling users to make sure their machines are patched and up to date at all times."