This virus is spread only by Outlook Express, Microsoft's free e-mail package, according to Symantec France, developer of Norton AntiVirus. Symantec has moved quickly to head off the new intruder: A special patch was added to its software April 5.
The macro virus, W97M.Service.A, is hidden in an enclosure with an evocative name: Noarmy-a.doc. When the infected Word document is open, the virus replicates itself in a familiar way: A copy of the original file is sent to the first 50 entries in the user's Outlook Express address book. (The mailing is limited to addresses that have a .fr suffix.) -- Jerome Thorel, ZDNet France; translation by Matthew Rothenberg, ZDNet News
