Virus Update 1

Useful Free Links:

Free online virus scanning service:
Click the above icon and wait for a few minutes for the program to initialise

Virus Datafile Update
PcCillin
Norton Antivirus
McAfee VirusScan
Dr. Soloman's

Update to Scan Engines
PcCillin
McAfee VirusScan

Who is Melissa?

Melissa is a name given to a computer virus which infects Word97 and Word2000 documents and templates. It was first detected on 26th Mar 1999; several variants are now spreading around as infected Word docs are passed to others - mainly spread by email attachment automatically sent out by Microsoft Outlook - duplicates itself from one docs to another as it is opened or created by Word. Links to further detail of this virus can be found at the bottom of this page.

Why your antivirus software may fail to detect Melissa and other new viruses ?

Basically, there are two components in an antivirus software.
1) the scan engine (i.e. the software), and
2) the virus definition file (i.e. the datafile).

Both these two files must be kept up-to-date before the antivirus software can successfully detect the latest breed of viruses including Melissa. The datafile is updated frequently by the software supplier, and most users track this to keep their copy updated regularly. The scan engine, however, is only updated once in a while, and so there is a tendency for its update to be missed out by users. Also some users tend to believe that as long as the latest datafile is used, it will be able to detect the latest virus. As a result, the software may fail to detect some of the new viruses eventhough the names of the these viruses are shown on the list of detectable viruses displayed by the software. Therefore, using only the most updated version of the virus datafile does not guarantee that the program will be able to detect all the latest viruses.

What Can You Do ?

1. Do an online scan. A must for those without an antivirus software. (Your system will be checked using the lastest scan engine and datafile). This will also help to check the effectiveness of your antivirus software.
2. Always use the most updated version of both the scan engine and the virus datafile.

Some useful links to obtain free updates and free online scanning service are listed on the left column of this page.

1. Tools > Macro menu command in MS Word 97 is disabled. (i.e. you cannot access the macro command)
2. Macro > Security menu command in MS Word 2000 is disabled. (i.e. you cannot change the security level)
3. The following options in MS Word 97 are disabled: (Click Tools > Options to view)

• Prompt to save Normal template (under Save Tab)
• Confirm conversion at Open (under General Tab)
• Macro virus protection (under General Tab)

If any of the above is true, there is a possibility that your PC may have been infected by Melissa or one of the macro virus. Don't panic, use the free online virus scanning service given on the left column of this page.