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Experts at Carnegie Mellon University warn of new computer virus
March 27, 1999 Web posted at: 4:58 PM EST (2158 GMT)
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A new computer virus can allow documents to be
e-mailed to other people without warning, a potential security breach
that should worry businesses and governments, an expert at Carnegie
Mellon University said Saturday.
The "Melissa macro" or W97M_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 -- or Computer Emergency Response
Team -- Carnegie Mellon's Department of Defense-funded computer security
team.
CERT first heard of the virus Friday afternoon and its members worked
through the night to analyze the virus and develop a fix, CERT manager
Katherine Fithen said.
"We're getting so many reports from across the world., that we know this
is going to be a huge problem come Monday," Fithen said.
She noted that since CERT was founded 10 years ago, this is only the
second time it has considered a virus important enough to warrant a
public announcement. The first, in 1994, warned of a virus that allowed
computer burglars to collect passwords.
CERT has not determined where the Melissa virus originated.
Fithen said she is not allowed to say whether any governmental agency
has suffered a security breach as the result of Melissa.
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 that is open
on the computer, Fithen said.
Also, the virus reproduces and sends so much unwanted e-mail that the
volume can overload some mail servers, the computers that distribute
e-mail.
However, it apparently causes no direct damage to a computer's memory or
programs.
Infected documents are sent as attachments to e-mails most frequently
bearing a header: "Subject: Important Message From" the name of 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 ;-)."
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: CERT information about the Melissa virus is
available on the Web at
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-04-Melissa-Macro-Virus.html.
Microsoft has a patch available at
http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-002.asp.
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