XM / Compat
XM / Compat was a widespread , polymorphic macro virus that infects Microsoft Excel files and is hardly noticeable, i.e. changes minimally, and can thus ruin the database. The malware has been listed in virus databases since 1998.
Function and effect
After infection, the pest selects an unprotected, numerical cell in a random Excel worksheet and changes the content between one and five percent with a one percent probability.
What was special about this pest was that on the one hand it had a very effective malicious routine and yet it was at least relatively widespread. Typically, computer malware is characterized by either widespread distribution or a particularly malicious malicious routine, but not both (see article Computer Virus ).
The extreme damaging potential of the virus was mainly due to the fact that the malware did not attract any attention apart from marginal changes in the Excel files. As a result, he often remained active for many months and worked continuously to falsify the database. If the malware remained undetected long enough, the backup files were ultimately also affected.
In at least one documented case, the infection of a company network with the XM / Compat malware led to bankruptcy. However, significantly more companies were probably significantly affected by this virus.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 30th, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. XM / Compat.A - McAfee Virus Lexicon
- ↑ https://shop.heise.de/katalog/schotten-dicht-3 Schotten tight. c't 13/2002, p. 186
