Advisory Unit Warns of Computer Virus

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Computer Incident Advisory Capability unit issued an alert warning computer users not to open attachments to e-mail messages featuring “AOL4FREE” slogans. What’s known as a “Trojan horse”--or a program that looks like it does one thing but actually does something else--will be released if a user double clicks on the attached file. If opened, the Trojan horse will delete information on the computer’s hard drive and then self destruct. Officials received several calls Friday from people claiming the Trojan horse wiped out their hard drive. Officials said computer users should delete these e-mail messages without running the attached documents. This is the second time an “AOL4FREE” e-mail message has caused government officials headaches. “AOL4FREE” evolved from a program that allowed computer users to use America Online for free.