Hello, Aron,
Thanks for your response.
As it happens, we were not able to entirely fix the MS Word 98 files
that were infected, even after running Virex. The Virex application
did indeed find some infected files and the professor used it to
"repair" them (alas, without first noting the name of the virus).
Nevertheless, any previously infected files still cause the macro
virus alert window to open, even though the Virex program no longer
recognizes any infected files. We were forced to open a fresh file
window in MS Word and copy and paste the contents of the "corrupted"
file into the new file window and then resave. The new file opens
correctly and does not open the prompt window. The corrupted files
were then deleted.
Fortunately, the number of infected files was limited.
John
>Hi John,
>
>In the message "[MAGNet] Macro Virus protection", dated 2000-10-02,
>John Fiorillo wrote:
>
>>(1) Is it common for PC macro viruses in the MS Word application
>>to also affect MS Word on the Mac?
>
> Yes. However, some Microsoft Word macro viruses perform actions
>specific to Windows, and thus may be limited in their ability to
>replicate or to deliver their 'payloads' when run under Mac OS
>versions of Word.
>
>>(2) Do the symptoms described above suggest that we do anything
>>else beyond updating and hopefully eradicating the virus? Are we OK
>>if the prompts stop appearing, or are the affected files (i.e.,
>>those saved after the infection) corrupted in some way and require
>>deletion?
>
> Virex can successfully repair most infected files. For instance,
>Virex is able in nearly all cases to remove viral macro code from
>infected Microsoft Word files in a manner which leaves these files
>unmodified (sans for the removal of the macro[s]) and entirely
>usable.
>
> Here's what Virex's vendor has to say about this in the Virex 6.0
>User's Guide:
>
>>When the Virex application repairs an infected file, it removes the
>>virus code
>>from the file and restores it to its original state. ... Network
>>Associates recommends that you replace infected files with
>>uninfected copies of the original files, but if you do not have a
>>virus-free copy, you can use the Virex application to repair nearly
>>any infected file.
>
>Aron Roberts
>Workstation Software Support Group
--******************************************************************* John Fiorillo fiorillo@spectacle.berkeley.edu *******************************************************************
------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following was automatically added to this message by the list server:
For information about MAGNet, its meetings and events, and its mailing list, including information on subscribing and unsubscribing, see the MAGNet Web site at <URL:http://mac.berkeley.edu/help/magnet/>.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Oct 05 2000 - 13:24:34 PDT