The latest version of the MyDoom computer worm caused disruptions among Internet search engines recently, just as the search engine company Google lit up its new site offering details of the impending IPO.

It is not clear whether the attacks were timed to correspond with the Google launch, as the source of the MyDoom worm and its variants is still unknown. What is known, however, is the terrible toll computer viruses and worms take on businesses and governments around the globe.

The SCO Group – a controversial software company that was the target of the original MyDoom attacks – estimates that the first attack caused more than $1 billion in lost productivity and damage to businesses worldwide.

This figure, though, is just a drop in the bucket. Last year’s Blaster and SoBig virus attacks caused delays in Amtrak trains, closed banks in Norway, and caused the Federal Reserve Bank and departments at several state governments to shut down in order to deal with infected machines. Cost estimates associated with these problems are staggering.

In a world that is increasingly dependent on computer systems and the Internet, such attacks are tantamount to large-scale global terrorism. Often, when the culprit is found it turns out to be a teenage hacker with a private vendetta against Microsoft or some other computer giant. These malicious programmers think they are being clever, and probably get an ego boost from the worldwide havoc their deeds are causing.

The effect can be compared to an army of vandals running around randomly slashing tires on cars all over the world. It’s not as though they have a personal grudge against their victims – the object is simply to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible.

As if this weren’t enough, companies continue to loose productivity due to the constantly increasing amount of “spam” that hits their servers. Some of these are e-mails generated by virus attacks, but more and more they are advertisements for everything from black market Viagra to bogus diplomas and ubiquitous porn and gambling sites.

A recent survey of employees at Fortune 500 companies found that workers lose an average of 15 minutes a day dealing with unwanted e-mail messages, an average of nearly 30 such messages per worker per day. It is estimated that these companies will lose $1,934 for every employee in 2004 because of spam.

Spam filters and other anti-spam technologies can catch some of the messages, but right now the spammers are winning this battle. According to Postini Inc., a spam filtering company, spam currently accounts for more than 70 percent of total e-mail volume worldwide. As an example, in May 2004, Bethesda, Md.-based hotel and hospitality services firm Marriott International fielded 22.2 million inbound messages and blocked 14.5 million. You do the math.

Now, I have been a fan of computers for a long time, I’ve had e-mail longer than most, and have built and managed dozens of Web sites in the past 10 years. I’ve also seen my home computer, just days out of the box from the factory, crippled by a malicious virus I had no way of thwarting. What is the solution? Please send me a good, old-fashioned handwritten note if you have the answer.

Regards,

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