WHAT: Researchers at the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center are warning computer users of Melissa.W, a variant of the damaging Melissa virus that uses Microsoft Outlook to e-mail itself as an attachment.
CHARACTERISTICS OF INFECTION: Melissa.W, is a macro virus that has worm capabilities. It spreads via email with the subject line displaying "Important Message From (user name)." and text which reads "Here is that document you asked for?don't show anyone else;-)" The attachment name can vary.
PAYLOAD: Melissa.W will email the virus to the first 50 people in a user's Microsoft Outlook address book and infect each subsequent document that is opened. The overriding results could potentially create an effect similar to a Denial of Service attack (DDoS) due to the volume of emails this creates.
RECOMMENDATIONS/PROTECTION: SARC recommends administrators and consumers filter for the subject line and text body immediately.Symantec anti-virus products for the PC and Mac platforms will detect all known Melissa variants to date and repair most. SARC is currently working on a fix for users who receive viruses that have been carried on Macintosh Office 2001 documents, including the Melissa.W virus. SARC expects to have the repair available today.
SYMANTEC ANTIVIRUS RESEARCH CENTER: SARC is one of the industry's largest dedicated team of virus experts. With offices located in the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Netherlands, the sun never sets on SARC. The center's mission is to provide swift, global responses to computer virus threats, proactively research and develop technologies that eliminate such threats, and educate the public on safe computing practices.
As new computer viruses appear, SARC develops identification and detection for these viruses, and provides either a repair or delete operation, thus keeping users protected against the latest virus threats.
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