Computer Virus Experts on Lookout for Melissa
Computer experts hope a weekend of warnings will prevent workers returning to their office terminals today from spreading a new virus that launches documents into cyberspace and clogs e-mail servers.
Several businesses and governments around the world have contacted Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Emergency Response Team for help with the virus, said CERT manager Katherine Fithen. She said they should consider it a potential security breach.
CERT first learned of the virus Friday afternoon and its members worked through the night to analyze it, Fithen said. She said the full reach of the virus may become clear today when millions of people sit down at their computer terminals for the first time since Melissa emerged.
“It’s safe to say we’re bracing ourselves,” she said.
Fithen declined to say if any government’s security was breached. She also wouldn’t name anyone affected.
The Melissa virus spreads via infected e-mail and attacks computers loaded with Microsoft’s widely used Word 97 or Word 2000 programs, according to CERT.
Infected documents are sent as attachments to e-mails most frequently bearing a header: “Subject: Important Message From” and the name of the person whose computer relayed the virus.
The body of the message says, “Here is that document you asked for. . . . Don’t show it to anyone else ;-).”
Several anti-virus software makers have posted software on their Web sites that their customers can download to detect and reject the virus. People can also protect themselves by not opening the attachments, Fithen said.
If a computer user opens an infected Word-format document, the virus propagates itself by reading the user’s e-mail address book and sending an infected message to the first 50 entries, CERT said.
The message can include the contents of any Word document open on the computer, Fithen said.
Also, the virus can send so much unwanted e-mail that it crashes mail servers, the computers that distribute e-mail.
Microsoft was among the companies hit by the virus, but it suffered no problems, said company spokesman Adam Sohn. The company limited its e-mail transmissions and didn’t lose any confidential information, he said.
Microsoft officials said company programmers worked with CERT and manufacturers of anti-virus programs to develop an antidote.
The virus apparently causes no direct damage to a computer’s memory or programs.
Information from CERT about the Melissa virus available on the Internet at https://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-04-Melissa-Macro-Virus.html. Microsoft has a patch available at https://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-002.asp.
