Virus Dials 911

A new e-mail virus has hit some WebTV devices, and its effects could have ramifications for the emergency phone network. Reports of the virus first surfaced in WebTV user group boards such as WebTV's alt.discuss news group. Those reports say that once the infected attachment is opened, the WebTV shuts down, reboots, then calls 911. Several people have reported this happening and then having a police officer show up at their door. A customer service supervisor at Microsoft confirms that 18 customers have called in to report the suspicious WebTV behavior. WebTVs now go by the name MSNTV, but older brands still have the WebTV branding. According to Microsoft, both units are affected. This is not the first computer virus that has modems dialing 911. In April of 2000, the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) released an advisory warning of a virus that erased hard drives and programmed the computer to dial 911. While that virus did not spread beyond a localized area, authorities are concerned that this type of virus behavior could affect emergency services.