October 7, 1989

LEAD: Ever since a rogue program created by a graduate student jammed a nationwide computer network last year, the rapid spread of such disruptive software, known as viruses, has caused growing alarm among computer users. Now, to fight fire with fire, some companies, individuals and even a Government research laboratory are crafting a new breed of what have been called anti-viruses to hunt down intruders.

LEAD: The Israeli Government today rejected an Egyptian proposal to convene preliminary Palestinian-Israeli talks in Cairo as a way of breaking the deadlock in stalled efforts toward peace.

LEAD: The campaign for pay equity for women, considered innovative legal theory 10 years ago, is sputtering in court but flourishing at the bargaining table, bringing multimillion-dollar pay upgrades for many jobs.

LEAD: Factory employment took its biggest drop in nearly seven years in September as the nation's unemployment rate edged up one-tenth of a percentage point, to 5.2 percent, the Labor Department reported today.

LEAD: Detectors, No Sprinklers The nursing home fire that killed nine people in Norfolk, Va., was started by a cigarette or match that ignited a foam mattress, the fire chief said.