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Tiffany Crotogino Munoz noted the effects of the Concept Macro Virus on her
Word and RoboHELP documents and had some pretty harsh things to say about
Microsoft in the process.
Frankly, any program that produces document files with embedded macros is
going to be subject to this kind of problem. It's Microsoft's fortune to
market two products--Word and Excel--that probably originate the vast
majority of such documents and are thus prime targets for the kind of
sociopathic scum who originate software viruses.
We technical communicators are especially prone to viruses because we
regularly exchange files with other computer users. We are by profession
viral targets begging to be infected.
Although I panicked when I discovered that my system was infected with the
Concept virus (courtesy of an e-mail message with attached Word file from a
transPacific client), it was relatively quick and easy to fix by reading
the information at Microsoft's Web site and then downloading a virus
definition update from my antiviral software vendor's Web site.
Practicing safe computing is vitally important these days.
1. Be sure you have antiviral software installed on your system, keep the
virus definitions up to date through monthly downloads, and scan your
system for viruses at least once a week
2. Download and install the Microsoft ScanProt macros for their products if
you use them
3. NEVER download or run an executable from an unknown or unreliable
source. (Major vendors and online services scan files available for
downloading from their Web and FTP sites, but users should be wary of
anything that's been uploaded by other users.)
The only safe alternative is to unplug your system from the Net and remove
your diskette and CD-ROM drives, etc.
