The new virus warnings sound a loud alarm of the dangers faced by millions of Chinese computer and Internet users, anti-virus watchdogs predicted Monday.

Sending and receiving e-mails and surfing the Internet accelerates the spread of computer viruses, Meng Bin, a researcher with the Tianjin-based National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, said.

More and more, computer viruses are affecting computers in China, and causing huge financial losses, he said.

The latest survey by the center shows that more than 85 percent of computers in China were affected by viruses in 2003. Those viruses caused losses among users of 63.5 percent of those computers, reported China Central Television (CCTV) on its website.

By comparison, the number of affected computers in 2002 was less than 84 percent and about 60 percent in 2001.

Most highly damaging computer viruses came from abroad through Internet connections. The latest warning by the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center refers to two viruses that could damage some of the most common files.

The center has forecasted that two viruses -- VBS/Triplesix, which spreads through Microsoft Outlook and mIRC, and WM/Kompu, which affects Word files -- will attack computers on Thursday and Sunday respectively.

Like many others, those two viruses may travel to China across the vast expanses of the Internet, but experts have also warned that the number of domestically created viruses has been rising fast.

Anti-virus experts have warned computer users to hedge against possible damages.

Meng said, however, that companies or organizations are the biggest victims because their internal networks depend heavily on computers and the Internet.

Meng said every computer user should install anti-virus software and frequently update operating systems to mend possible loopholes.

Mao Yiding, vice-general manager of the Beijing Rising Co Ltd, an anti-virus software producer, said computer viruses have been spreading very fast and will spread even faster in the future as the popularity of the Internet grows.

He said anti-virus awareness among Chinese computer users needs to be improved.

For example, many computer game players tend to play without firewalls or virus protection because both applications slow down their computers.

In a China News Service report, Du Yuejin, director of the operation department under the National Computer Network Emergency Center, called on users turn to his center or other watchdogs if they find their computers affected by a virus to solve the problem quicker.

(China Daily February 3, 2004)