Definition
Melissa
Melissa is a macro virus that spread via email in 1999. Upon opening an infected document, it sent itself to the first 50 contacts in the user’s Microsoft Outlook address book and modified the global template file
Normal.dotto infect other documents.
Impact
- Approximately 100,000 computers were infected on the first day
- Email traffic slowdowns forced companies to close their networks
- Estimated damages of $80 million
Significance
Melissa is to date the fastest macro virus to spread via email. It demonstrated the destructive potential of combining social engineering (enticing email subjects) with automated self-propagation through trusted contact lists.