Spotlight On Malware: The Melissa Virus

Some of those reading may already know, but today, February 21st, is the birthday of a friend of mine: +Melissa Coast. So, as something that I hope she finds interesting when she reads this, I am going to talk about a macro virus from 1999 that shares her first name. So, +Melissa Coast, if you are reading this, Happy Birthday, and I hope you enjoy reading about a virus that shares your name. It may seem a bit offensive for me to talk about that, but remember that this is what I do best and it is not meant to be offensive in any way.

Now to the virus: Melissa (the virus) is a mass mailing macro virus, or a virus that can hide in the macros of documents. Some of you may already be thinking: "that sounds more like a worm then a virus." If you are, then leave a comment below for some brownie points, because under normal circumstances that is what it would be. But because Melissa is not a standalone program, it is not a worm. Melissa can spread on Microsoft Office 1997 and 2000. It can also spread on Excel 97, 2000, and 03. It can mass mail itself using Outlook 97 and 98. If a word document containing the virus is opened, it mass mails itself to the first 50 contacts in your Outlook address book. This virus also deletes Excel files after making backup copies to a remote drive and demands a payment of $100 into an offshore bank account in exchange for the files. A more destructive version of the virus deletes all data from a verity of destinations, including the C drive. Once finished deleting your files, the computer beeps three times and you get a message from the virus: "Hint: Get Norton 2000 not McAfee 4.02."

The least destructive version arrives in a document that is blank. At 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM on the 10th of every month, the virus adds the following text to the document: "Worm! Let's We Enjoy." Ironically the writer of this virus served 10 years in prison for his crime once he was found.

So, what do you readers think? Like it? Hate it? Sound off in the comments below. Again, Happy Birthday +Melissa Coast. Knowing you, you likely wanted to spend your day reading. In which case, I am sorry that this has prevented you from doing so in the time it takes to read this.