Computer hackers have created what is believed to be the world’s first Irish language virus.
A computer user in Co Donegal discovered the virus – as Gaeilge – in his computer in recent days. The man tried to access his computer but found it was locked, with an Irish language message demanding the user to forward €100 via transfer computer to have it unlocked.
Computer technician Brian McGarvey of Techie2u computer repairs has been repairing computers for 12 years. He said this was the first time he had come across a virus written in the Irish language. “It’s quite a sophisticated and convincing scam. To someone who didn’t have good Irish it looks very legitimate. I suspect they have used some kind of translation transfer and only about 60 per cent of the virus makes sense in Irish. It has a logo which features an Irish flag and it looks quite official.”