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By Jeffrey Gold
The Associated
Press
N E W A R K,
N.J., Dec. 9 — A computer programmer
admitted today he created and distributed the “Melissa” virus that he
acknowledged caused millions of dollars of damage by disrupting e-mail systems
worldwide.
David L. Smith
pleaded guilty to a state charge of computer theft and was expected to plead
guilty in federal court in Newark later today.
The
virus, believed to be named for a topless dancer Smith knew when he lived in
Florida, wreaked havoc at the end of March.
Claims Did Not
Anticipate Effects
“I did not expect or anticipate the amount of
damage that took place,” Smith read from a statement after answering a series of
questions from his lawyer. Smith said he believed any damage would be minor.
Smith, 31, is believed to be among the first people
ever prosecuted for creating a computer virus. He was arrested April 1 at his
brother’s home in nearby Eatontown in Monmouth County and freed on $100,000 bail
the next day.
Smith said he created the virus on
computers in his Aberdeen apartment and used a stolen screen name, “Skyroket,”
and password to get into America Online. In the online service’s alt.sex
newsgroup, he posted a file called “list.zip,” a listing of adult web sites and
passwords, which contained the virus.
Downloading was
Expected
Asked by his lawyer, Edward F. Borden Jr., if that was
designed to entice people to download the file, Smith said, “Yes.”
“Melissa” struck thousands of e-mail systems on
March 26, disguised as an “important message” from a friend or colleague, and
spread around the world like an electronic chain letter.
Melissa was designed to lower security settings on
computers with Microsoft Word 97 and Microsoft Word 2000, making them vulnerable
to other viruses so that any document created would be infected. It also was
designed to send infected mail to the first 50 names in a computer user’s
address book through the Microsoft Outlook e-mail program.
Under his plea bargain, Smith could face five to 10
years on the state charge and up to five years in prison on a federal charge.
Sentencing for the state charge was tentatively set for Feb. 18. 
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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