Melissa mutants refuse to die

Variants of the Melissa computer virus have continued to rear up during the past month, plaguing 10 companies in the just the last week.

The most recent culprits are called Melissa.U, Melissa.V, and VBS.Freelink, a Visual Basic script virus with a Melissa-like bite.

One of the victims, Massachussetts industrial design firm Design Continuum Inc., says it spent 40 man-hours recovering from an outbreak of VBS.Freelink. The virus is relatively benign but spreads quickly. The profusion of spontaneous e-mails alamost instantly overwhelmed the company's servers, causing them to reject incoming messages.

A story on the latest mini-outbreak is posted at www.zdnn.com .