W97M/Prilissa - a bug whose payload is set to go off Christmas Day - strikes Fortune 500 firms on three continents.
Published:
21 November 1999 y., Sunday
It_s called the W97M/Prilissa virus. But a better name for it would be the Grinch virus. Anti-virus researchers at Network Associates Inc. said Friday that 10 Fortune 500 companies on three continents have been hit with a new virus called W97/Prilissa. Prilissa is a nasty variant on two better known attacks - the Melissa worm and the PRI virus. The virus depends on the Windows 95 and 98 operating systems and the Word 97 word processing application. IF OPENED, IT WILL E-MAIL itself to the first 50 names on a computer_s Outlook or Outlook Express e-mail client.
"This is probably the fastest infection rate we_ve seen since Melissa," said Sal Viveros, anti-virus product manager at Network Associates, in Santa Clara, Calif. The virus uses macro commands similar to those of Melissa to replicate itself. But the virus itself won_t go off until Christmas day. That means it won_t have much of an impact on companies, which aren_t likely to be open on that day, even if it should go undetected. But there is a big threat to home PC users, particularly unsuspecting children logging onto the computer to play with their new games on Christmas. The Dr. Suess analogies are endless. The virus itself looks for a registry key to verify if the local system has been infected. If it hasn_t, the virus creates a Microsoft Outlook e-mail message with the subject line "Message From (Office 97 user name)" and a message body that says "This document is very Important and you_ve GOT to read this!!!"
The first 50 listings from all address books are selected, along with an attachment - the infected document, whatever it is.
If the date is Dec. 25, the virus runs a destructive payload to overwrite the existing C:/AUTOEXEC.BAT file with instructions to format the C: drive.
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Software company announced new structure_ of it_s business.
more »
An £8 million (U.S. $14.5 million) campaign by Switch/Maestro that features a pair of adventurous penguins on holiday in Venice and Paris has helped to drive a massive upsurge in the number of consumers using their Switch-branded bank cards overseas
more »
Microsoft officials launched a last-minute reminder to Windows users Monday afternoon to prevent the spread of the MyDoom
more »
search.lt presents newest links
more »
Communicating Visions - Exhibition and Symposium
more »
Diebold, Incorporated has earned the Central Station Alarm Association's (CSAA) "Five Diamond 100 percent Operator Certified Central Station" designation
more »
Sun Microsystems Inc. says its Jxta technology for peer-to-peer computing is gathering steam and may soon make its way into some of its own products
more »
search.lt presents newest links
more »
Ten years ago when the first ATMs appeared in Lithuania maybe someone was intimidated with the bank’s payment card. Today a small piece of plastic gives a consumer the unlimited possibilities. What are they?
more »
search.lt presents newest links
more »
Police find 3,000 forged copies of XP Pro along with forged certificates of authentication
more »