ARCHIVED: In Microsoft Word, what is the Prank macro or Concept virus?

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The Prank macro, or Concept virus, distributes itself through Microsoft Word documents. When you try to save a document, the macro only lets you save the document as a template. After you open a document containing the Prank macro, any subsequent documents that you save from Word will contain copies of the Prank macro. The Prank macro does not affect the contents of the document, and the files are not lost.

There are two ways to tell if your copy of Word has the Prank macro:

If you see a dialog box that only contains the number "1" and an OK button the first time you open a document, the macro is present.
From the Tools menu, select Macros to display the Macros dialog box. If any of the following macros are listed, your copy of Word contains the Prank macro:
- AAAZAO
- AAAZFS
- AutoOpen
- FileSaveAs
- PayLoad

The Prank macro is an annoyance, but does not cause data loss or other serious system corruption. You should not be concerned that your data or computer is in jeopardy.

For more information about this macro, see the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center page at:

  http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/wm.concept.html

For information concerning protection from and removal of macro viruses, see the Knowledge Base document ARCHIVED: How can I combat macro viruses?