Dear All,
this sounds like a potentially dreadful virus. Please read
A.R.

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> From: Eva Isaksson <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: ADMIN: a warning about attachments
> Date: 28 March 1999 06:57
> 
> Dear wise-l subscribers,
> 
> I would like to strongly remind you to never send attachments to
> mailing lists, and particularly never to send Word documents with
> your messages!
> 
> I am sending this reminder because of the news about a new, real
> virus called Melissa (not a hoax like so many virus alerts!) that
> is spreading in Word attachments. Please read the news below, and
> be very careful with attachments - the URL cited below gives you
> more information.
> 
> - Eva, your technical list maintainer
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Eva Isaksson  [log in to unmask]  http://www.helsinki.fi/~eisaksso/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> http://www.Europe.DataFellows.com/news/pr/eng/19990327.htm
> 
>    Melissa virus infects Word documents, e-mails itself to other users
> 
>    Espoo, Finland, March 27, 1999. - Data Fellows, one of the worlds
>    leading developers of anti-virus and encryption software, is warning
>    computer users about a virulent and widespread computer virus found on
>    Friday, March 26, 1999. This virus has spread all over the globe
>    within just hours of initial discovery, apparently spreading faster
>    than any other virus before.
> 
>    The virus, known as W97M/Melissa, spreads by e-mailing itself
>    automatically from one user to another. The virus activates by
>    modifying the user's documents, inserting comments from the TV series
>    The Simpsons. Even worse, it can send out confidential information
>    from the computer without the users noticing it.
> 
>    The virus was discovered late Friday evening European time, early
>    morning US time. For this reason, the virus spread in the USA during
>    Friday. Many multinational companies reported widespread infections,
>    including Microsoft and Intel. Microsoft closed down their whole
>    e-mail system to prevent a further spreading of the virus. The number
>    of infected computers so far is estimated at tens of thousands, and
>    rising quickly.
> 
>    "We've never seen a virus spread so rapidly," comments Mikko Hypponen,
>    Data Fellows' Manager of Anti-Virus Research. "We've seen a handful of
>    viruses that distribute themselves automatically over e-mail, but not
>    one of them has been as successful as Melissa in the real world."
> 
>    W97M/Melissa was initially distributed in an Internet discussion group
>    called alt.sex. The virus was sent in a file called LIST.DOC, which
>    contained passwords for X-rated websites. When users downloaded the
>    file and opened it in Microsoft Word, a macro inside the document
>    executed and e-mailed the LIST.DOC file to 50 people listed in the
>    e-mail alias file of the user. The e-mail looked as follows:
> 
>         From: (name of infected user)
>         Subject: Important Message From (name of infected user)
>         To: (50 names from alias list)
> 
>         Here is that document you asked for ... don't show anyone else
;-)
> 
>         Attachment: LIST.DOC
> 
>    Most recipients are likely to open such a file, as it usually comes
>    from someone they know.
> 
>    After sending itself out, the virus continues to infect other Word
>    documents. Eventually, these files can end up being mailed to other
>    users as well. This can be potentially disastrous, as a user might
>    inadvertently send out confidential data to outsiders.
> 
>    The virus activates if it is executed when the minutes of the hour
>    match the day of the month - for example 18:27 on the 27th day of a
>    month. At this time the virus will insert the following phrase into
>    the current document which the user has open in Word: "Twenty-two
>    points, plus triple-word-score, plus fifty points for using all my
>    letters. Game's over. I'm outta here". This text, as well as the alias
>    name of the virus author, "Kwyjibo", are references to the popular
>    "Simpsons" cartoon TV series.
> 
>    "The virus won't spread much during this weekend. We will see the real
>    problem on Monday morning", continues Hypponen. "When a big company
>    gets infected, their e-mail servers are seriously slowed down and
>    might even crash, as people start to e-mail large document attachments
>    without realising it."
> 
>    W97M/Melissa works with Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft Word 2000 and
>    Microsoft Outlook e-mail client. It can infect both Windows and
>    Macintosh users. If the infected machine does not have Outlook or
>    Internet access at all, the virus will continue to spread locally
>    within the users own documents.
> 
>    Data Fellows provides a free solution to the W97M/Melissa virus
>    problem. Evaluation copies of the F-Secure Anti-Virus toolkit as well
>    as an update to detect and disinfect the virus are available from the
>    company's website at http://www.DataFellows.com


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