But officials in Manila have raised the possibility that the suspect might not be responsible for the computer attack. The user here is invisible, it could be anybody. The difference is that the person we have identified is the registered owner of that computer. Several variations appeared soon after, one masquerading as an e-mail joke, another as a receipt for a Mother's Day gift. Trend Micro Inc Anti-virus software maker Symantec said the latest variant of the virus poses as a warning message from their technical support team.
Experts say the virus is likely to engender more variants in the coming weeks.
E-mails infected with the Love Bug reached 45 million users, according to one estimate. It only affects systems running Microsoft Windows with Windows Scripting Host enabled. Computers using Apple's operating system or Linux are not affected. Although the virus seems to have started in the Philippines, systems there and in much of Asia have escaped largely unscathed as several markets were on holiday last week. The full extent of the virus will likely become clearer on Monday.