The Guide -Melissa-- A New Menace for Microsoft Product Users

Melissa - A Macro Virus

	Introduction
	First Line of Defence Measures you can take to protect your self.
	Read More About It

Melissa-- A New Menace for Microsoft Product Users: A Word and a Outlook Macro Virus

For the present time our best defense against this is to:

Not open *ANY* .doc (MS Word format) or .rtf (Rich Text Format) files, especially those they receive through email and which were created less than a week ago. Those are the most likely to be infected with this macro virus. DESTROY them.

If a .doc or .rtf file is received by anybody, they should request the sender convert it to HTML and re-send it. In fact, with the growing merge of email and the web, many people would rather receive email in this format. The

To not send anybody any attached .doc files. Instead, export the document to HTML and then send it, if some formatting is necessary to retain.

If your computer asks you if it's okay to run a macro, just answer NO.

Upgrade (if you haven't already) Word97 with a patch made available here: http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-002.asp

In Word97, you can disable automatic macro execution (click Tools/Options/General then turn on the 'Macro virus protection' checkbox).

Check to see whether the anti-virus software you are using has made available a patch to scan and remove it from your computer