The Barisada Virus Activates on April 24

Panda Software, leading antivirus developer, is reminding users that on April 24 the macro virus Barisada (X97M/Barisada.A) will activate. Although this virus has been around for some time now, the actions it carries out could cause problems in computers without an antivirus solution or if the antivirus installed has not been regularly updated.

Barisada activates on the above date between two and three in the afternoon. At this time, a series of windows are displayed with questions related to different subjects, one of which is a role-play game. However, depending on the user’s answers, Barisada could delete all the data in the Excel workbooks that are open when the virus activates.

Similarly, when an infected spreadsheet is closed, Barisada infiltrates the other spreadsheets open at the time. By doing this, it can easily affect a large number of files.

Barisada reaches computers in an Excel file via the usual means used by viruses: e-mail messages, computer networks, CD-ROMs, Internet downloads, FTP, floppy disks, etc.

In order to carry out its actions, Barisada creates a copy of itself on the computer in a file called HJB.XLS. Therefore, if this file is found on a computer, it is a clear indication that it is infected by the virus.

Panda Software has also reported that a variant of this virus has recently been detected which is the same as its predecessor except for the name of the file that it creates, which in this case is books.xls.

The company informs users that its antivirus solutions can detect and disinfect both of these viruses and reminds users of the importance of having a reliable antivirus with daily updates.