A variant of the Melissa virus is set to strike computers on December 25
Symantec Corporation, an international anti-virus firm, has warned email users against a variant of the Melissa virus, W97M.Prilissa.A, which can corrupt files and disable virus protection security settings. The virus will check the system date for December 25 before it triggers itself. The Melissa email virus caused havoc among a large number of users early this year.
The virus infects Word 97 documents and spreads by sending the infected document as an email attachment to the first 50 addresses in the address book. The text of the message will read: "This document is very important and you've got to read this." When the infected document is opened, the virus disables virus protection security settings, conversion confirmation and recently opened file list.
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