A NEW strain of the virus that on Thursday attacked computer systems across the world causing billions of dollars of damage has emerged. “LOVE BUG 2” is again e-mail based, this time in the form of an e-mail with a joke attachment. Experts believe the new variant has been devised by a “copycat” programmer using the original “I LOVE YOU” virus as a model. World leading anti-virus software company Symantec said in a statement on Thursday evening that the virus writes itself to a series of graphic files as well as root directory and registry files on target computers if the recipient opens the e-mail. The virus, described as a self-propagating ‘worm’ similar to the devastating Melissa virus in 1999 and more recent Kakworm worm, also automatically resends itself to everyone listed in the victim’s e-mail address book. In South Africa the virus crippled e-mail servers for hours on Thursday, leaving behind a slew of victims, including major banks like Absa, smaller business and individuals.