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Virus Profile: WM/Niknat.A

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Virus Profile information details
Risk Assessment: Home Low | Corporate Low
Date Discovered: 8/1/1997
Date Added: 10/5/1999
Origin: N/A
Length: N/A
Type: Virus
Subtype: Macro
DAT Required: 4001
Removal Instructions
   
 
 
   

Description

This is a virus detection. Viruses are programs that self-replicate recursively, meaning that infected systems spread the virus to other systems, which then propagate the virus further. While many viruses contain a destructive payload, it's quite common for viruses to do nothing more than spread from one system to another.

Indication of Infection

Methods of Infection

   

Virus Characteristics

The W97M/Niknat.A virus was first listed as 'In The Wild' on The WildList in November 1998.

W97M/Niknat.A infects Word 95 documents. W97M/Niknat.A consists of the macros EVAHZG, TCLOSEAN, AUTOCLOSE, TOOLSMACRO and FILETEMPLATES.

This macro virus will infect Word's NORMAL.DOT file. This macro virus does not disable macro virus protection.

W97M/Niknat.A will cause the system speaker to beep and a message is displayed whenever Tools|Macro or File|Templates. is selected.

 

As part of its process, W97M/Niknat.A creates the file C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\EVAH.NIK, C:\WIN95\COMMAND\EVAHZ.BAT, and the hidden directory C:\EVAHZG2. These files are erased upon termination of the virus. The hidden directory remains.

On October 23, if the user is running Windows95, this virus attempts to set the desktop pattern [to a custom value (a small square-like hatch pattern)] and the wallpaper. However, because of the reliance upon specific preexisting subdirectories, the wallpaper assignment does not occur. The failure does not stop the virus from replicating.

WM/Niknat.A contains the following strings, which are never displayed:

'by NAENBGOURSG

'SO.HT.AI.KS

'231076-GREECE

'Thanks to NEURO

'VRD 19-4-1997

'VRP A.U.A (+.-.-)

 
   
All Users :
Script,Batch,Macro and non memory-resident:
Use current engine and DAT files for detection and removal.

PE,Trojan,Internet Worm and memory resident :
Use specified engine and DAT files for detection. To remove, boot to MS-DOS mode or use a boot diskette and use the command line scanner:

SCANPM /ADL /CLEAN /ALL

Additional Windows ME/XP removal considerations


Users should not trust file icons, particularly when receiving files from others via P2P clients, IRC, email or other mediums where users can share files.

AVERT Recommended Updates :

* Office2000 Updates

* Malformed Word Document Could Enable Macro to Run Automatically (Information/Patch )

* scriptlet.typelib/Eyedog vulnerability patch

* Outlook as an email attachment security update

* Exchange 5.5 post SP3 Information Store Patch 5.5.2652.42 - this patch corrects detection issues with GroupShield

For a list of attachments blocked by the Outlook patch and a general FAQ, visit this link .
Additionally, Network Administrators can configure this update using an available tool - visit this link for more information .

It is very common for macro viruses to disable options within Office applications for example in Word, the macro protection warning commonly is disabled. After cleaning macro viruses, ensure that your previously set options are again enabled.