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Melissa Removal

S

ScottM2

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 12, 2005
4
0
I have a problem with the old Melissa virus. I've had a client tell me recently that a file I sent them had the Melissa virus on it and he couldn't open it. Basically I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on virus software that I really don't need. But I do need something that will remove the virus. Anyone have any suggestions? I can't find anything! (I'm running 10.4)

Thanks for your time.
Scott
 
ScottM2 said:
I have a problem with the old Melissa virus. I've had a client tell me recently that a file I sent them had the Melissa virus on it and he couldn't open it. Basically I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on virus software that I really don't need. But I do need something that will remove the virus. Anyone have any suggestions? I can't find anything! (I'm running 10.4)

Thanks for your time.
Scott
Click to expand...

According to CERT , the Melissa virus can not send mail on systems running MacOS; however, the virus can be stored on MacOS. My guess is that Melissa picked your email address from the address book of an infected machine, i.e. your computer is not necessarily infected. You should stell check your machine, you probably have the Melissa virus stored somewhere in your emails since you are in contact with clients that have potentially been infected (sorry - I don't know about free virus software for Mac OS X).
 
Microsoft Word file?

You should be able to go into the Macros and delete all of them.
 
ScottM2 said:
I have a problem with the old Melissa virus. I've had a client tell me recently that a file I sent them had the Melissa virus on it and he couldn't open it. Basically I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on virus software that I really don't need. But I do need something that will remove the virus. Anyone have any suggestions? I can't find anything! (I'm running 10.4)

Thanks for your time.
Scott
Click to expand...
This is an old WinWord 97 macro virus. To remove it, you need an antiviral utility such as Norton Antivirus, Virex, or whatever. Antivirus software does not cost hundreds of dollars. Just get the software. The virus is not going to remove itself.
 
Umm.. Melissa was a Macro virus for Word, which CAN infect you. well, not you, a Word doc. And it self-propogates via Outlook on a PC ONLY. So, if you're running a Mac, you're not infected with Melissa so that you're sending out copies.

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=10132

Update January 31, 2001:
The Word97 format of this virus is identified by minimum engine 4.0.25 with 4021 DAT files. Due to the Office2001 variant, the minimum engine and DAT has been updatd for this virus profile.
Update January 18, 2001:
McAfee AVERT has received samples of W97M/Melissa@MM in a new file format; this format is Word9 / Office2001 for Mac. Although this file format is specific to Mac Office2001, it can infect a host system running Office97, Office98 (also for Mac) and/or Office2000.

Customers using either Virex 6.1 with the January 2001 update or VirusScan Retail 5.15 with current DAT files do not require any updates. They have the 4.1.30 engine which is needed to detect and clean using the older DAT created a long time ago.

Detection and cleaning was added for this format into 4117 DAT files scheduled to release for January 24, 2001 and requires engine 4.0.70 or greater. This engine is needed for the MAC variant, not for the regular Melissa virus.

The virus is not a MAC virus, it is a macro virus - it can spread on a MAC machine, and on a PC, it replicates as a regular macro virus. It doesn't mass-mail on MAC, it does on PC. Concerned users can inquire with McAfee AVERT for update information and for EXTRA.DAT availability - refer to localized contact information.
Click to expand...

I seriously wish they wouldn't call it a MAC.

I concur that it's probably someone else who is infected with it and it simply chose your email address as it's "from" address.
 
So basically I'm hearing that there is nothing short of buying a virus software that I can do. We haven't used Outlook in the office for a long time now. So if I have to buy software... which one should I get? I've heard bad things about that type of programs causing more problems than fixing.
 
I understand I don't have a virus and it won't affect me... but I am passing it on to someone else. So I need to do something to get rid of it.
 
Just save the file as an RTF, then load that and re-save as a .doc if you really need it to be in that format.
 
You send a Word doc to the other fellow? Was it an old file from circa 2001? And he said it was infected? Then yes, antiviral software is the only way you're going to clean that infection from your very old files.

You can try ClamAV, it's free. I have no idea how effective it is. Look for it on http://www.versiontracker.com
 
Yeah... I've used ClamXav. It is a good scanner. But it doesn't have a remove function yet.
 
Ok, sorry I misinterpreted your message. You actually sent a doc to someone who said it was infected. Sounds like you do need to clear it up :eek: Freaking Microsoft is a plague. I can't wait for Apple to perfect iWork.
 
What country do you live in, anyway? In the US, no one pays more than $30 or $40 for AV software. Do you mean a net install on several machines? I guess I would recommend installing it and then getting rid of it after you do a sweep.
 
Who sent you the file originally. It certainly didn't get infected on your Mac, so the source must have the infection, which you're merely passing on inside the file. That's if the file truly does have Melissa, and the client didn't get a "you're infected!" spam at the same time, or something. Stop it at the source, where the infection came from, or else all the files you get from them could be infected.
 
rainman::|:| said:
Who sent you the file originally. It certainly didn't get infected on your Mac, so the source must have the infection, which you're merely passing on inside the file. That's if the file truly does have Melissa, and the client didn't get a "you're infected!" spam at the same time, or something. Stop it at the source, where the infection came from, or else all the files you get from them could be infected.
Click to expand...

My understanding is that, at least with older versions of Mac Word, the virus can be spread from Word file to Word file, on Macs, as well as PCs (that's also what Yellow's copy from McAfee indicates). But it's also my impression that Word 2003/2004 and other more recent versions have some kind of built in protection against these viruses? Anyone know, is that true or false?
 
My G4 is in a PC network where stuff like Melissa infected files are not entirely uncommon. I've found that ClamXav (available at www.versiontracker.com) is perfectly able to detect and quarantine the majority of virus infections that many PC AV applications don't even find.

ClamXav is free, updated regularly, and is even useful for scanning and cleaning shares on compromised PCs!
 
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