Melissa-X disguised as Mac doc
Published: 19 Jan 2001 08:33 GMT
Computer virus experts say a new variant of the Melissa virus is spreading, this time in the guise of a Macintosh-formatted Microsoft Office document.
Vincent Gullotto, director of Network Associates' McAfee antivirus emergency research team, said the first sample of the new strain came in to his lab about a month ago. In the past day or two, however, more than two dozen reports have come in.
The virus, dubbed alternatively Melissa-X and Melissa 2001, can be spread on either a PC or a Macintosh. Like other Melissa variants, though, only Windows PCs will send mass email copies of the infected file. For now, the virus attachment has appeared as "anniv.doc", although Gullotto cautioned this could change.
Although the newest virus is no more virulent than other Melissa strains, virus software has to be updated to recognise a document as infected with the new strain.
Gullotto said that because it is a strain of Melissa, the variant probably ranks as a high risk, although by itself it would probably only rate a medium-risk so far. "We have a concern about the virus, as we do about most viruses," Gullotto said. "We don't want to alarm people at this point."
While it is hard to say precisely how the new variant came about, Gullotto said it is possible someone saved a Melissa-infected document into the new Macintosh version of Microsoft's Office software, creating the new strain. Both Macintosh and Windows computers can open Office documents created on either computer, he said.
Gullotto said he sees about one new strain a month of the Melissa virus, which first cropped up in March 1999.
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