NewsForge: OpenOffice.org Virus Debunked by Experts

“Kaspersky Lab, a manufacturer of anti-virus software, claims to
have discovered a macro virus for StarOffice and OpenOffice.org.
The claim has received widespread media attention on the Internet
as the first of its kind. However, according to experts, the
alleged virus is nothing more than the use of a long-existing
capability in the StarBasic macro language (also known as OOo
Basic). Although the potential for malicious macros exists, they
can be easily guarded against.

“Labelled Stardust, the alleged virus was first described on May
30 in a blog from a Kaspersky Lab virus analyst who posts as
Kostya. According to the blog, ‘It’s written in StarBasic. It
downloads an image file (with adult content) from the Internet and
then opens this file in a new document.’ The story first appeared
on May 31, with the additional caveat that it is a proof-of-concept
virus only, and has not been in circulation…”

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