A computer worm called "funny," which has spread via MSN since Sunday, smashed online instant messaging in the city and crashed many computers across the country.

On MSN, the worm disguised itself as a file named "funny.exe" with an enticing note that said "just see the beautiful girl." Curious users that opened the file had their computers infected. Infected machines automatically sent the "funny" file to all people on its MSN contact list.

"We have received many reports about the worm since Sunday afternoon. But the damage is less serious than last year's worm 'Blaster.' It can be fixed with an anti-virus software update," an official, surnamed Shi, at Shanghai Information Technology Service Co Ltd told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

But the government-backed Internet security company said the number of infected computers was not available.

Many residents found that they couldn't use the MSN program yesterday.

"I can't use MSN to contact clients and friends," said Jojo Tang, a 24-year-old employee at a public relations company.

Tang said three of her MSN friends sent her the "funny" file on Sunday but she didn't open it.

The worm also crashed unprotected operating systems including Windows 2000 and Windows XP users, according to Beijing Jiangmin Science Technology Co Ltd, an anti-virus solution provider.

The situation is serious in Yunnan Province where the worm crashed thousands of computers, the company said.

(Shanghai Daily October 12, 2004)