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By Robert Lemos, 15 May 2003 08:32

NEWS The mass-mailing computer virus Fizzer is threatening to overwhelm several internet relay chat (IRC) networks, prompting the operators of more than 50 networks to band together to stave off the digital infection. The digital deluge is caused by a side effect of the virus. Fizzer attempts to connect to IRC networks from an infected PC to open up a communications channel that can be used to control a victim's system. The virus was so successful at spreading that the massive influx of new connections threatened to overwhelm the IRC networks reached by the program. Tyrel Haveman, an administrator for the Mysteria IRC network, said: "It was almost to the point of taking down our network. We noticed it first around midday in the US on Monday. Within a couple of hours, we had 500 connections." Mysteria normally has only 150 to 250 people online at any one time, he added. The IRC operators intend to make the response group a permanent facet of the community, said John McGarrigle, the administrator for another small IRC network, RealmNet. A new site called IRC Unity will become a central hub for information sharing and discussion on various topics including security, he said. "The idea stemmed from the fact that we have just set up an IRC security list with over 100 subscribers in the first day of operation," he said. "We realised, after that, that we had an opportunity there to create this information-sharing site, which will hopefully help prevent a lot of IRC-based attacks before they get out of hand."