By the end of the day, Jerry Rios, vice president and information technology director, was smiling as the company emerged unscathed while others were seeing e-mail servers derailed. Rios wasn't smug. A little more than a year ago, he was up to his bloodshot eyes in the Melissa virus. It took over three days and about 190 man-hours to clean it up. It stops some e-mail the company wants, but Rios and others say that's a small price to pay.
Virus protection is expensive, and many companies procrastinate until they get burned badly.
Not everyone was so fortunate. Government agencies, including the Pentagon, were laid low, too. Countless small businesses and consumers also got bitten. The lesson of the latest virus, consultants say, is that businesses must invest in security systems and procedures. But security mechanisms are only as strong as their weakest links.