Summary

WordMacro/DMV is probably the first Word macro virus to have been written. It is test virus, written by a person called Joel McNamara to study the behavior of macro viruses. As such, it is no threat - it announces its presence in the system, and keeps the user informed of its actions.

Additional Details

Mr. McNamara wrote WordMacro/DMV in fall 1994 - at the same time, he published a detailed study about macro viruses. He kept his test virus under wraps until a real macro virus, WordMacro/Concept, was discovered in fall 1995. At that time, he decided to make WordMacro/DMV known to the public. We oppose to such behaviour; although it can be argued that spreading such information will educate the public, we can also except to see new variants of the DMV virus, as well as totally new viruses inspired by the techniques used in this virus. McNamara also published a skeleton for a virus to infect Microsoft Excel spreadsheet files.

F-Secure anti-virus products detect the WordMacro/DMV macro virus.

See also: Concept, Nuclear, Colors

[Analysis: Mikko Hypponen, F-Secure]