A new computer virus known as Witty is attacking computers thought to be protected with the firewall software program BlackICE.

The Academic Computing and Network Services, formerly the MSU Computer Center, has encouraged this protective software for personal computers, and many students might be at risk, senior information technologist Richard Wiggins said.

It is not known how many MSU computers might be infected, Wiggins said.

"The ironic thing is, this has occurred where a product to protect your computer has a flaw and if you're running it, people can attack your computer," he said.

The Witty worm disperses itself to other computers by scanning infected computers for Internet-protocol addresses.

The address is a number given to a computer connected to the Internet.

The worm has the capability to erase hard-drive information and can evade virus-scan programs because they are not stored on the physical computer.

"It worms its way into the computer and doesn't go into the hard drive, only in the memory," Wiggins said. "Then it gets in the computer and destroys."

An upgrade has been made available through Internet Security Software, the software provider, at www.iss.net/download.

Those with infected computers either need to upgrade or stop using the firewall systems.

Internet Security Software's RealSecure program also is vulnerable to the virus.