Symantec Takes Aim at New ‘Macro’ Viruses

Anti-virus software developer Symantec Corp. will release an update to its Norton AntiVirus program today that is designed to seek out and destroy a new class of “macro” viruses.

Researchers at the Cupertino, Calif.-based company developed the update after they learned of an unusual virus found in France this week. Although there’s only one known case of the virus, dubbed XF/Paix.A, virus hunters want to ensure that they’re ready.

“A new class of macro virus is what we’re dealing with. It attacks documents in a completely different way than the previous ones did,” said Carey Nachenberg, chief researcher at the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center.

The Internet’s increasing popularity and wider use of office applications such as Microsoft Excel are behind the recent increase in macro viruses. These viruses emerge from macros, or simple programs that are normally written to make calculations in Microsoft Word or Excel spreadsheets.

XF/Paix.A was transmitted by a user who sent an Excel spreadsheet as an e-mail attachment. Macro viruses can also travel when users give spreadsheets to others on a floppy disk. The Paix virus, however, is not “malicious.” When a user opens an infected spreadsheet, it will infect other Excel documents and translate their file names into French.

Another macro virus surfaced in Spain last week. This one, dubbed the “Lady Di” virus, is programmed to open a Microsoft Word file on the 31st of each month and display the text of the first two verses of Elton John’s reworking of “Candle in the Wind,” written in memory of Princess Diana.

Mikel Urizarbarrena, an anti-virus expert with Panda Software, said the firm is checking out reports of the digital demon infecting computers in the United States.

Norton AntiVirus users can pick up the update by clicking on the live update feature that comes with Norton software, or by visiting the company’s Web site at https://www.symantec.com

*

Times staff writer P.J. Huffstutter contributed to the report.