But not for those using Kaspersky Anti-Virus! On Wednesday, 13 December, Kaspersky Labs Int. received more than 500 reports from around the world concerning computer data loss caused by the re-activation of the macro-virus "Thus." We are happy to inform you that not one Kaspersky Anti-Virus user,...
But not for those using Kaspersky Anti-Virus!
On Wednesday, 13 December, Kaspersky Lab Int. received more than 500 reports from around the world concerning computer data loss caused by the re-activation of the macro-virus "Thus." We are happy to inform you that not one Kaspersky Anti-Virus user, following Kaspersky Lab's recommendation of regularly updating the anti-virus database, has fallen victim to this virus.
The macro-virus "Thus" was discovered at the end of August 1999. At that time, protection procedures thwarting this macro-virus were added to the Kaspersky Anti-Virus (AVP) anti-virus database. By the end of September of the same year, appearances of "Thus" were registered "in-the-wild" in Europe and in the United States.
This virus spreads via Microsoft Word documents, infecting files upon opening, closing and creating. "Thus" activates its destructive function every year on December 13, and deletes files on the C: disk. Its presence can be discovered by a comment-mark in the body of an infected file: "Thus_001."
At this moment, Kaspersky Lab anti-virus experts have discovered around 80 modifications of the "Thus" virus, some of them having different payload: deleting of different file types; file encrypting; a video-effects demonstration;: and document-content damage.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus reliably protects a PC not only against all known "Thus" modifications, but also against possible future variations of the virus. A unique technology, Office Guard, based on behaviour blocker principals, guarantees 100% protection against all known and even future macro-viruses, including future variations of "Thus." Unlike the commonly used method of virus detection based on searching for a unique virus signature, Office Guard identifies viruses based on their behaviour, i.e., their activity. This technology has proved to be more effective and reliable.
"The recent incident with the 'Thus' virus has reconfirmed the two golden rules of virus protection: a regular anti-virus database update, and the use of very reliable anti-virus software," commented Denis Zenkin, Head of Corporate Communications for Kaspersky Lab. "We are sure that further implementation of these rules will guarantee users a secure 13th of December in 2001, as well as in subsequent years."
Technical details about the macro-virus "Thus" are available in the Kaspersky Virus Encyclopedia.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus can be purchased at the Kaspersky Lab online store.
Office Guard is available in Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Microsoft Office 2000.
