Network Associates is warning Microsoft Word 97 users about
a ‘medium risk’ virus that replicates itself across Word 97 files,
but does not destroy data.
“W97M/Heathen.A is a multipartite virus, as it uses two types of
classes, a .exe portion and a .doc portion, for its infection.”
” ‘It’s delivered if someone receives an e-mail with a Word 97
infected document or if they access any server file that is
infected,’ said Allison Taylor, product marketing manager for
corporate antivirus solutions at Network Associates. ‘It doesn’t
carry a particular payload except for dropping a patch into your
[Windows] 95/98 shell.’ “
“NAI has assigned the Heathen.A virus a medium risk level as it
is not socially engineered to appear to be from a known user, and
can infect new systems only if a user opens an infected Word 97
file. Heathen.A does not send itself through e-mail as Melissa and
Worm.ExploreZip do.”