Why scan .rtf files for viruses

Knowledge Base Toggle local menu Menus About the team. Knowledge Base Search. Log in. Options Help Chat with a consultant. Include archived documents. This content has been archived , and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. The "senders" usually don't even know the attachment exists.

For Word, Excel, and any other software that uses macros, get paranoid. Go to the Macros menu item, and select the Security option. Set it to high, and refuse to run any macros except from those sources you designate as "Trusted. The vast majority of users won't be affected by this at all.

Most of us don't use macros in our documents. Ask people who need to send you documents to use. In most cases this will give exactly the same results and appearance. And RTF files can't spread viruses. If they don't know how to do this, explain it.

When they save the file, they simply choose Rich Text Format from the "Save as type" options instead of accepting the default. Another advantage is that RTF files are generally readable on any platform. Handy for dealing with people who may not have exactly the same programs that you use. And then only allow it when you know the sender. Hint: How many people do you know who write email containing ActiveX or other scripting Get a good anti-virus program.

Update it regularly. Run it all the time. You'll want to set it to the highest security you can live with. If you get huge amounts of email and have a slow machine, you may not want to tell it to scan every email that's downloaded, but you'll probably want every other option checked.

Yes, it will slow things down a small amount. In most cases, you'll never notice it. If it gets too bad, you can disable the less important options, like scanning inside zip files. You don't need to scan your drives every time you boot up the machine, of course. But do it occasionally to be safe.

Updating your Anti-Virus AV software frequently is a must. There are tens of thousands of viruses out there, and more developed all the time. It does you no good to have the software if it's not current. If it is installed, Outlook is used by the virus to send mail. Otherwise, Melissa behaves like a normal virus: you can infect others by carelessly sharing files.

The mailer you use to read mail doesn't matter. The virus will use Outlook, if Outlook is installed, to send copies of itself. How you receive it doesn't matter. Systems that rely solely on pattern matching to recognize the virus can be used as a stop gap measure to prevent the spread of a particular virus, but will fail as soon as the virus mutates so that it no longer matches the pattern.

This can be very effective as a short-term fix, but will not provide long-term protection. Melissa was relatively non-destructive and easily detected. Variants could be significantly more destructive or stealthy. We strongly encourage you to be aware of the risks posed by viruses and other computer security concerns at all times. Outlook 98 and Outlook for Windows platforms can be used to propagate the virus.

Microsoft Word 97 and Word for Windows and Word 98 for Macintosh can be used by the virus to infect other documents. Earlier versions of Word, including Word 95, cannot be used to infect other documents, nor can Outlook Express on any platform be used to propagate the virus via email.

To be affected by Melissa and other, similar macro viruses, you must open the attachment and permit macros to run.

You cannot be affected by Melissa or similar viruses merely by receiving the email. We encourage you to notify them. More information about dealing with incidents can be found in our Incident Reporting Guidelines at.

If this option is checked, Word will give you a warning any time you open a document that has macros embedded in it. The warning will give you the opportunity to prevent any macros from running.

While Melissa is a macro virus, Happy For more information about Happy