Although these viruses were spread through e-mail and chat programs, the importance of virus attacks to storage managers cannot be overstated. Viruses generally create damage in several ways. There is the embarrassment to the user, the middleman who unwittingly spreads the virus. Since the virus replicates itself through the user's personal e-mail list, generally it is that person's closest associates who are infected next. This can be very harmful to businesses that depend upon image and goodwill.
Viruses also cause ancillary damage by flooding e-mail systems and the associated storage systems.
This additional burden can become severe enough to cause systems to stall or hang, leaving e-mail systems unusable for all traffic. Storage managers can monitor storage systems, especially e-mail, and place restrictions or alarms on the amount of growth allowed. That way, when a virus begins to spread, the storage manager is alerted and the e-mail system is less likely to be crashed due to the volume of data being generated. By throttling the data growth through quotas or other means, the system may continue to process all of the mail, including normal and virus-generated mail, keeping the system alive and buying administrators time to react to the virus itself without shutting down the clients. Viruses cause the most significant damage by attacking stored data.