in Bermuda and around the world, is a potent reminder of the vulnerability of the Internet Age to the mischievous and the malicious.

Computer systems, ranging from the Pentagon, the British House of Commons and locally, the Bank of Bermuda, were penetrated.

The only good news was that the programme appeared to be more of a mischief-maker rather than a totally destructive fore. The real danger is that someone intent on doing real damage will come along and then where will the world, now so heavily dependent on computers, be? Earlier this year, hackers -- including, allegedly, a 15-year-old schoolboy -- brought some of the biggest web sites on the Internet to their knees.

The ease with which virus and website attacks can be made, and the difficulties with combatting them, is a great worry.

The extraordinarily rapid development of technology means attackers will almost always have the advantage over the defenders, who are caught in an eternal game of catch-up.

If computer systems were crashed for any length of time, there is no question that the costs would be huge -- although human beings would find ways to make life go on.

The reality is that the world is so dependent on computers, the Internet and e-mail for everything from communications to electronic commerce to account keeping to booking a ticket, that the clock cannot be turned back to simpler times, regardless of the threat posed by hackers.

What computer users must do is to ensure that they have the most up to date virus defences available.

In Bermuda, a system which lets users know when a virus is spreading is also needed. The Ministry of Telecommunications, in conjunction with Internet Service Providers, should develop a system along these lines.

Thursday's love bug showed that while individual companies became aware of the problem, there was no system to help make others aware of it unless a friend or colleague called or they happened to hear or see it on the news. That is not enough.

UNITED HOTELS EDT United hotels Why hasn't this happened before? Next week, all of the Island's hoteliers are due to meet to discuss plans to form a new umbrella organisation to represent the industry, both as a lobby in Bermuda and to market local properties abroad.

This makes eminent sense. With a shrinking number of beds, the hotels, most of which have the same worries, need to speak with one voice in order to reverse the trend.

To be sure, there will be differences between different personalities and between large and small properties. But far more unites the industry than divides it and every effort should be made to put past differences aside.