Home / malware Virus:W97M/Walker
First posted on 02 September 2010.
Source: SecurityHomeAliases :
There are no other names known for Virus:W97M/Walker.
Explanation :
A malicious program that secretly integrates itself into program or data files. It spreads by integrating itself into more files each time the host program is run.
Additional DetailsVirus:W97M/Walker, also known as Virus:W97M/Satellite, is a Word macro virus with extraordinary functions.
This virus encrypts and decrypts it's own code on-the-fly, making analysis and detection of the virus problematic. The encryption is done with multiple layers of XOR-based substitution.
Infection
Sattelite spreads whenever Word documents are opened or closed. It detects that it has already infected a document by searching for this text in the documents macros:
€ SATTELITE V1.5
The virus activates by modifying the registry so that the registered owner name of Microsoft Windows will be changed to:
€ ThE wEiRd GeNiUs
This will work only under Windows 95 and Windows 98.
Sattelite was widespread in Northern Europe in early 1999.
Variants
Walker.E
Walker.E is a slightly modified variant from W97M/Walker.D. The difference is that this variant uses the following string as a marker:
€ SATTELITE V1.0
This variant does not alter the name of the registered owner of Windows.
Walker.L
W97M/Walker.L is an encrypted class infector that infects the global template when an infected document is opened. After the global template has been infected, the virus infects all documents that are opened or closed.
The virus also lowers the security settings of Word 2000, and disables all selections from the "Tools/Macro" menu.
It uses the following string to determine if the document is already infected:
€ [Bench]Garbage v2.0Last update 02 September 2010
