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Script & Macro Viruses
Script Viruses - Types and Habitats
Script viruses (sometimes called macro viruses) generally travel embedded in
email and office automation documents, although they can be found in web pages as
Old fashioned program viruses are usually
implemented in executable system code, whereas script viruses are usually written
in a powerful high-level language
that is compiled and run on the fly. They often have sophisticated functionality
and direct interfaces to high level applications such as word processing,
spreadsheet, email, and web programs, and can wreak considerable
havoc. Since they first surfaced in
office automation programs, they are sometimes also called "macro" viruses.
Script viruses can also propagate through IRC protocols.
On Microsoft computers, turning on your script checking virus
protection is essential. However, keep in mind that there
may be an associated performance
hit for some
Many applications on Windows are written in Visual Basic, and real-time script
virus checking can double the time it takes for their usual functions
that ordinary functions take an inordinate length of time to complete, you
can try temporarily turning this feature off in your anti-virus checker --
but don't forget to turn it back on afterwards!
Active threats. The following types of script viruses are currently
the most active and dangerous, on the Windows platform:
Basic is a flexible and powerful programming environment for Microsoft
Windows, Office, and Internet applications. Script viruses written
in Visual Basic can run throughout the Microsoft architecture, giving
them considerable reach and power, and making them the primary virus
The first widespread Visual Basic script virus was Melissa,
which brought down several of the large international corporations for
several days in March 1999. Melissa traveled in a Microsoft Word document
and ran when the document was opened, then opened the associated Microsoft
Outlook email program, read the user's email address book, and then sent email
of itself to the first fifty names it found. It spread very quickly.
The Melissa virus architecture was quickly followed by many similar variants
by hackers around the world, including the ground breaking KAK,
the first Visual Basic script virus that triggered as soon as an email was opened.
KAK was then followed by BubbleBoy,
which triggered if an email was even viewed in the preview pane. A steady stream
of Visual Basic script viruses continue to circulate to this day. There are even
automated, point and click programs like VBS Love Generator to help hackers produce
variants. Script viruses which use email to send themselves to others are also
a form of worm.
The term "macro virus" is used less often, and generally refers to
office automation application macro, most commonly a Visual Basic macro in a
document. Macro viruses can cross system boundaries from Windows to Macintosh
computers with MS Office documents. Current versions of Microsoft Office contain
strong anti-macro protections to guard against known attacks.
- ActiveX is
one of Microsoft's distributed application technologies that enable
web pages to download programs on the fly with the full power of any executable
on your machine. This makes ActiveX modules especially efficient and
but also a security risk since they can create, change, and delete
files, add system programming code, or take any other action your user
account is allowed on your computer.
To help mitigate the risk, Microsoft provides a network architecture of encrypted security
certificates for ActiveX modules. This network gives you the option of refusing
the download of unsigned ActiveX modules from unknown authors, and at least
disclosing the signed identity of those modules that you do accept in case
they later cause
problems. However, this approach is
not universally accepted by the general user and professional security communities,
and is sometimes called "trust me now, try to catch me later".
Users running Internet Explorer on Windows machines should make
sure that their browser security settings are set to "disable" for
unsigned ActiveX applets, and to "prompt" for signed applets.
Hypothetical threats. The following script viruses are largely theoretical,
but illustrate that they can turn up wherever there is scripting code:
- Java is a standard cross platform
development environment, and is often used to download scripts to add
functionality like a clock or chat room interface to a web page. Java
was written with a strong security model which protects your computer's
data and resources, and it has so far proved remarkably resistant to
script virus infection. You can turn Java off in your browser if you
want to be extra careful, but it will disable some useful functionality
that have been discovered have been mainly theoretical in nature. You
careful, but it will disable functionality on many web pages.
- MIME. The first script virus
that triggered as soon as an email was opened was a MIME virus that applied
to older versions of Netscape Mail, Microsoft Outlook, and Eudora Mail.
In a variation on an old hacker technique, the attached MIME file was
given a very long name that triggered a bug which allowed the end of
the name to
be run as a series of instructions, which could then be written to run the virus.
However, a fix for the bug was quickly developed for each vulnerable
program, and MIME viruses have so far remained
- Others. Several other scripting
environments have also had viruses, including Corel Draw, Hypertext Preprocessor,
Windows Help, Windows installation files, and Windows registry files.
Anywhere there is a script interpreter there is an opportunity for a
script virus to run.