Computer users have been advised to remain alert over a virus that has infected over 15 million computers and has been designed to get activated today (April 1).

Experts have so far been unable to determine what damage the virus, called Conficker, may cause.

Some security experts suggest that the perceived threat could be the biggest Internet April Fool's hoax ever.

The virus hides itself in Microsoft's Windows operating system where it can be used by hackers to access personal information, steal passwords and even speak to other infected PCs.

Bahrain Internet Society president Ahmed Al Balooshi believes that it will be impossible to tell exactly what the virus will do until it actually becomes live.

'There are many aspects to it and there is no real evidence to look at what the virus is going to do until the damage has been done,' he told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News yesterday.

'It's very hard to predict, nobody could anticipate the slammer virus when it happened, but that worm crippled a lot of networks and did a lot of damage.'

Al Balooshi said that virus threats like these could be easily avoided if users were more vigilant when downloading attachments and updated their anti-virus software regularly.

'The danger here is not really with browsing websites, you are more exposed to viruses when opening unknown e-mail attachments or spam, using flash disks between users or using P2P technology online - where people can gain access to your computer,' he said.

'People need to ensure that they keep their anti-virus software up-to-date as well as the hardware itself to minimise the risk of becoming infected.'

Al Balooshi said that if users notice their computers slowing down or acting funny, they should immediately contact someone with technical experience to try to sort out the problem.

'I would isolate the computer from the home or work network, refrain from using it and download the specific tools to remove the virus,' he added.

The virus first emerged in November, which prompted Microsoft to release a number of patches and updates to prevent infection.

A further, more aggressive strain followed in December, before last month's version, which contains the April 1 trigger.

Windows users can visit Microsoft's website and download a special free update 'patch' to avoid infection alongside several removal tools available online by Internet security experts like Sophos and Norton.

Reward

Microsoft has offered a $250,000 (BD94,500) reward for information that leads to the capture and conviction of the authors of Conficker.

Batelco media and government relations general manager Ahmed Al Janahi urged all computer users to be vigilant when using the Internet and to protect themselves adequately from such threats.

'Viruses are commonplace these days and Batelco urges all its customers to protect their PCs and laptops against all potential threats of any nature by using anti-virus software and ensuring it is up to date at all times,' Al Janahi said.-TradeArabia News Service