melissa virus

The Melissa worm, also known as "Mailissa", "Simpsons", "Kwyjibo", or "Kwejeebo", is a mass-mailing macro virus, hence leading some to classify it as a computer worm.

History

First found on March 26, 1999, Melissa shut down Internet mail systems that got clogged with infected e-mails propagating from the worm.

Melissa was first distributed in the Usenet discussion group alt. sex. The virus was inside a file called "List. Santa Barbara Hotels. DOC," which contained passwords that allow access into 80 pornographic websites. The worm's original form was sent via e-mail to many people.

Melissa was written by David L. Smith in Aberdeen Township, New Jersey, and named after a lap dancer he encountered in Florida. The creator of the virus called himself Kwyjibo, but was shown to be identical to macrovirus writers VicodinES and Alt-F11 who had several Word-files with the same characteristic Globally Unique Identifier (GUID), a serial number that was earlier generated with the network card MAC address as a component. Wired News: Virus Era Hits 5-Year Milestone. Smith was sentenced to 10 years but served only 20 months in a federal prison and fined $5,000 United States dollars. [1]

Worm Specifications

Melissa can spread on word processor Microsoft Word 97 and Word 2000. It can mass-mail itself from e-mail client Microsoft Outlook 97 or Outlook 98. The worm does not work on any other versions of Word, including Word 95, nor can it mass-mail itself via any other e-mail client, even Outlook Express.

If a Word Document containing the virus, either LIST. Howstuffworks "How does the Melissa virus work?". DOC or another infected file, is downloaded and opened, then the macro in the document runs and attempts to mass mail itself.