Microsoft Works To Head Off Virus Attack

"We're definitely doing everything we can to make sure that our customers who need to get to our site are able to do so," Christopher Budd, Microsoft's security program manager, said Friday.

Budd declined to give details on what specific steps the company was taking.

The virus, called MyDoom.B, spreads by e-mail and causes infected computers to launch an electronic attack again Microsoft's Web site. The virus is a variant of "MyDoom.A," which spread very rapidly across computers earlier this week.

So far, Internet security experts say the second version of the virus doesn't appear to be gaining as much traction.

Brian Czarny, marketing director for MessageLabs Inc., which scans e-mail for viruses, said one reason may be that it follows closely on the heels of the first attack.

"It could be the fact that people are already on guard," he said. "People already have defenses in place for MyDoom.A. ... and in doing so effectively are protecting against MyDoom.B."

On Thursday, Microsoft said it would to pay $250,000 to anyone who helps authorities find and prosecute the author of the virus. The cash reward is the third so far under a $5 million program Microsoft announced in early November to help U.S. authorities catch authors of unusually damaging Internet infections aimed at consumers of the company's software products.

The company targeted by the first version of the same virus, The SCO Group Inc., previously offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the creator of the Mydoom.A version.

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