Chinese experts have warned individuals and institutions of paying more attention to a computer virus called "New Happy Time".

The virus, or "VBS_Redlof.A, VBS_KJ.A", which was first found in April 2002 and ranked the first among the top ten computer viruses in 2003 by the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, has been spreading on the Internet and caused great damages, said Liang Hong, an expert with the center.

The virus spreads through two e-mail systems of Microsoft, Outlook and Outlook Express. Virus-carrying e-mails had no attachment.

When a computer was infected with the "New Happy Time", two files, folder.htt and desktop.htm would appear in the computer and made many files lost.

Some 85 percent of computers in China were affected by viruses this year, 1.59 percentage points higher than the level in 2002 and 25.57 percentage points higher than 2001, according to the latest nationwide survey conducted by the public information network security supervision bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.

Downloading through the Internet, visiting websites, and opening e-mails tend to be the main means for the spread of computer viruses, said the survey.

(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2003)