TECHNOLOGY - March 6, 1993

No Big Scare Over Michelangelo Virus: Computer users across the country armed themselves against today’s expected appearance of Michelangelo, the villainous electronic virus. Unlike last year, though, no one was panicking. The data-erasing mini-program, which lies dormant until the artist’s birthday on March 6, caused panic last year, but fears of a global cataclysm turned out to be exaggerated. This year, many computer owners took precautions by checking their machines for the rogue program, which works its mischief on IBM-compatible personal computers. Computer experts weren’t anticipating any disasters.