The Sobig virus strain caused £4.4bn of damage worldwide,
as it brought businesses and internet services to a standstill,
security consultancy Mi2g has estimated.
The virus hit small businesses in the UK particularly hard, causing
millions of pounds worth of damage and lost orders, the Federation
of Small Businesses said.
The failure of BT's broadband internet servers, which were still
unavailable or running slowly a week after the virus struck, left
many firms stranded without e-mail or web access.
Jo Tucker, managing director of online trade body the Interactive
Media in Retail Group, described the effect as horrifying. One firm
lost a week's worth of business, she said. Online theatre bookers
www.whatsonstage.com said its system had shut down after it
received more than 5,000 infected e-mails in 24 hours.
Viruses swarm the internet >>