The Melissa Virus

Dan Knight March 1999

• See McAfee and Symantec reports on Melissa.
• Virus: Melissa, the day after, PC World, 3/31. "It's meaningless to put a number on this when it's as big of a problem as this."
• Virus: Exec turns cybersleuth to find Melissa creator, Detroit News, 3/31. "Smith has found clues linking a teen-age boy with the creation of 'Melissa,' one of the fastest spreading computer viruses in history."
• Virus: Melissa spawns more offspring, ZDNet, 3/31. "Anti-virus experts expect the variant strains to continue over the next several weeks before they die down."
• Virus: Melissa, the day after, PC World, 3/31. "It's meaningless to put a number on this when it's as big of a problem as this."
• Virus: Exec turns cybersleuth to find Melissa creator, Detroit News, 3/31. "Smith has found clues linking a teen-age boy with the creation of 'Melissa,' one of the fastest spreading computer viruses in history."
• Virus: CERT advisory on Melissa virus, updated as new information comes in "This virus can not send mail on systems running MacOS; however, the virus can be stored on MacOS."
• Virus: Melissa virus traced to AOL account, Seattle Times, 3/30. "...he denied he's responsible, maintaining that someone hijacked his identity. "
• Virus: Melissa mutates into more destructive variants, ZDNet, 3/29. "It's like these guys - the virus writers - are trying to one-up each other."
• Virus: Melissa virus panic attack, Salon, 3/29. "The real problem lies with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft's whole design philosophy."

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