"Love Bug'' computer virus which devastated e-mail services across the world.

And they drew comfort from the fact that Bermuda seemed to have been spared, so far, from copycat viruses which began proliferating in Asia.

Government and the Bank of Bermuda, whose e-mail systems were infiltrated and closed as a precautionary method, were hoping to be back on-line on Monday.

Businesses in Bermuda were still receiving the destructive "I Love You'' virus yesterday, even as two copycat bugs entitled "Mother's Day'' and "Joke'' began appearing in other parts of the world.

One computer security firm has already declared the bug the most destructive in history.

Computer Economics, based in Carlsbad, California, estimated it has caused $2.61 billion in damages worldwide -- dwarfing the $80 million worth of havoc caused by the "Melissa'' virus last year.

Tens of millions of computers were disabled by the bug, which also closed down the e-mail system in the British House of Commons and infected the United States Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon.

Up to 50 percent of British businesses were affected by the cyber-attack, according to the Consumer's Association.

Approximately 45 million computers around the world were infected by various strains of the virus, according to Computer Economics.

"We estimate $2.61 billion of damage has been done,'' said Samir Bhavnani, a research analyst with Computer Economics.

"By Wednesday, the total can reach $10 billion. We see damages growing by $1 billion to $1.5 billion a day until the virus is eradicated.'' Island counts cost of computer virus Sal Viveros, group manager for Network Associates' Total Virus Defence, said his researchers have found as many of five different variants of the virus, although he did not yet have details of the specifics of the variants.

Business software maker Computer Associates International said it was relatively easy to create new strains of the virus.

The New York-based company's vice-president Simon Perry said: "There's a potential that anyone who receives this virus can go to the Internet and (find) tools to change codes within the virus programme that can give the e-mail or the attachment a new name.'' The emergence of the copycat bugs illustrates how difficult it will be to filter out rogue viruses.

The "Love Bug'' contained an attachment which, when opened, paralysed the user's e-mail system by sending itself to every address on the contact list and destroying image and music files.

The effect of the variants is the same as the "love bug'': on opening the attachment using Microsoft software, such as Outlook, it sends a copy of the virus to everyone in the user's address book and seeks to destroy a variety of files throughout a computer network, including picture and music files.

It is being sent as an e-mail attachment and many sites are experiencing significantly increased electronic mail traffic. It can spread through network disk drives, Web pages and via Internet Relay Chat.

The damage is limited to users of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

In one new version, designed to spoil the upcoming "Mother's Day'' holiday that will be celebrated in the US on May 14, a variant of the "love bug'' sends e-mails which appear to be a confirmation of an electronic gift order.

Mikko Hypponen, of F-Secure in Helsinki, Finland, said: "The Mother's Day version of this is quite cunning''.

"The e-mail appears to be a confirmation of an order for `Mother's Day diamond special' and the attached file mothersday.vbs is portrayed as if it were an invoice. With only eight days to go until Mother's Day, this attack is quite credible''.

And still another has "fwd: Joke'' in the subject line and an attached file called "Very Funny.vbs'' which, when opened, has a similar impact as the "Love Bug''.

Bermuda International Business Association local programme coordinator Nina Jacobs said yesterday: "Some people are still receiving the `Love Bug' e-mail today but most people's systems have been cleared. Ours was repaired and our e-mail was back on today.

"Most people have access to the cure so we don't have the panic we had yesterday. I haven't heard of these latest ones but I will e-mail members about it.'' Government's computer manager Michael Oatley said he hoped e-mail would be restored by Monday but he was taking a very cautious approach. A fix programme will run over the weekend, he added.

He said some image files were destroyed by the bug, but no important data.

"We have had some disruption and lost image files but we haven't lost any critical data. It's a severe nuisance factor,'' he said.

Craig Ferguson, of local e-mail service provider Logic, said: "It's been fairly quiet today. I think most people have got the hint.

"The security companies have all come up with various patches that seem to work. It's now just cleaning up for those affected and getting their systems back on line and recovering what they can of their files.

"I sincerely doubt you can recover lost files but you could try taking it to a consultant to try.'' Tom Coelho, general manager North Rock Communications, said: "We put a filter on for all our customers. We were on top of it very early and took evasive action.'' Bank of Bermuda spokeswoman Elizabeth Tee said the bank was still holding all e-mail messages and would decide on Sunday whether to go back on-line.

She said: "We knew round two of the virus had started in Asia and as a precautionary method we kept it switched off. We're confident it is going to be back on Monday but we'll take a decision on Sunday, depending on what's happening worldwide.''