Sophos identifies first Corel SCRIPT virus
Illustrators using Corel software are being threatened by the
attack of a new virus. The virus is written in Corel SCRIPT, a
macro programming language supported by Corel's products. Until
now, Corel SCRIPT has been free from virus infection.
The virus, dubbed 'CSC/CSV-A', infects .CSC (Corel SCRIPT)
files. Every time an infected script is run it looks for another
victim file and infects it.
On 6 June, the virus displays part of a poem by famous writer
J.R.R. Tolkien. The fantasy works of Tolkien have always been
popular amongst the virus-writing counter culture.
"While this virus is more irritating than destructive, it is
proof that virus writers are aggressively searching for new
entry-points into the software market", said Paul Ducklin, head of
research at Sophos."We can expect to see similar attacks on other
relatively sheltered areas of the industry."
"Another interesting feature of this virus is the J.R.R. Tolkien
poetry reference", he added. "Hobby connections in viruses may turn
out to be useful to the authorities in investigating and
prosecuting virus writers."
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.