By Polly Raymond, 30 March 1999 16:24
NEWS Software engineers hot on the heels of the hacker that created the Melissa virus are close to uncovering his or her identity. The software sleuths have tracked down an email address through the Web site where the virus originated. They used the controversial Global Unique Identifier (GUI) ID number in Microsoft software, which can link documents to their original author. Microsoft came under fire last week from critics who said the GUI ID number infringes on the user's freedom. Microsoft removed the feature - but not before it was used to help track down the identity of the Melissa creator. There has already been much speculation over the nationality of the hacker. The virus' origins have been narrowed down to US-based postings, but there are whispers that the author could be European. Alex Shipp, a virus technician at Internet service provider, Star, told Silicon.com that there are clues in the virus' code that point to Europe. "A lot of the source code is written in German - but that doesn't mean that much necessarily," he said. If tracked down, the hacker could face legal charges from global enforcement agencies. Information about how to deal with Melissa can be found at http://www.ciac.org and http://www.cert.org/
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