HONG KONG -- A computer virus spread by e-mail messages titled "ILOVEYOU" infected Asian and European computers today, apparently hitting public relations firms and investment banks in Asia particularly hard.

The virus appeared in Hong Kong late in the afternoon, spreading throughout e-mail systems once a user opened one of the contaminated messages.

Nomura International (HK) Ltd. in Hong Kong was affected, an analyst there said, as was Nomura's London office. In Asia, Dow Jones Newswires and the Asian Wall Street Journal were among the victims.

"It crashed all the computers," said Daphne Ghesquiere, a Dow Jones spokeswoman in Hong Kong. "You get the message and the topic says ILOVEYOU, and I was among the stupid ones to open it. I got about five at one time and I was suspicious, but one was from Dow Jones Newswires, so I opened it."

Once the message was opened, Ghesquiere said, it began sending the virus to other e-mail addresses within the Dow Jones computers, blocking people's ability to send and receive e-mail. Victims sometimes received dozens of e-mails, all contaminated.

"I have not idea how it got through the firewall," Ghesquiere said. "It's supposed to be protected."

The virus was spreading in Europe as well. In Denmark, the parliament, telecom company Tele Danmark, channel TV2 and the Environment and Energy Ministry were all affected starting this morning.

"We have no clue how it got in," said Hugo Praestegaard of the Environment and Energy Ministry.

Credit Suisse First Boston issued a global e-mail memo warning employees not to open the messages, said company official Tom Grimmer in Hong Kong. He said the virus had not infiltrated the investment bank's computer system.