May 4 — Just as reports of infections by the ILoveYou virus started to slow down, a new version of the program is winging its way around the Internet. This one has the subject line “FW: JOKE” and contains an attachment called “Very Funny.vbs.” The alterations might allow the program to sneak around some antivirus programs, adding to the pain the ILOVEYOU virus has already inflicted around the world today.

“ILOVEYOU” went on a worldwide rampage Thursday, shutting down e-mail servers and deleting files. Researchers say the virus is spreading faster than the infamous Melissa virus, which brought companies to a standstill last year. But “love” already has had much more devastating effects. The statistics are staggering. Nearly 30 percent of businesses in Great Britain, and nearly 80 percent in Sweden, have been infected by the virus, according to anti-virus research firm Network Associates. In fact, the company says, ATM cash machines in Belgium were knocked offline thanks to the deluge of e-mail traffic created by the virus.

The federally funded CERT Coordination Center says so far it has received reports that 294,000 computers have been infected — and that only represents those systems where administrators have registered the infections with CERT.

Many companies — and even the Army and the Navy, NASA — have resorted to simply shutting down their e-mail systems while the virus worms its way around the Internet.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen in my nine years in the business,” said Mikko Hypponen, manager of anti-virus research at F-Secure Corp. “We actually don’t know why it’s so widespread, why it’s spreading so fast.”

For example, one European magazine has lost its photograph archive, and the U.K.’s House of Commons closed down its e-mail systems temporarily over concerns about the virus.

Follow Ups: