Code Red came on the heels of a series of other embarrassing Microsoft-related attacks. One computer virus, named Melissa by its author after a stripper in Florida, exploited Microsoft flaws to shut down the servers at some three hundred corporations and government agencies, leaving behind a cool $80 million in damages. Another virus born out of the Philippines, ILOVEYOU, wiped files and infected victims at a rate of some 45 million a day, forcing major Microsoft customers like Ford Motor Company to shut off email.
