MACRO Viruses
What they infect: Unlike other viruses, macro viruses do not infect program
files; they infect documents. Common targets for
many macro viruses are word
processors such as Microsoft Word and Lotus AmiPro, and spreadsheets like
Microsoft Excel.
Macro viruses that infect Word commonly target the macros
associated with the NORMAL.DOT template. This template is
global, so all your
Word files can be infected.
How they infect: Word uses macros to perform actions such as formatting text and
opening or closing a document.
Macro viruses can modify macros defined by the
Word application to perform malicious actions such as overwriting or redefining
default definitions in Word.
Damage: The damage caused by macro viruses can range from inserting unwanted
text into documents to significantly reducing
the functionality of a computer.
For example, Format.C will (re-)format your hard disk!
Examples: (to come)
(back)