An Australian virus writer has published five viruses that target the Microsoft Command Shell (MSH). MSH is a replacement for shells including CMD.EXE, COMMAND.COM and 4NT.EXE, it was rumoured to included in Microsoft’s upcoming Vista operating system, though Microsoft has now confirmed it will not be included.
The virus family as been named Danom and, as “proof-of-concept” viruses, they are unlikely to spread in the wild. Especially as the environment they target has not been released yet.
Eric Chien of Symantec predicted the possibility of MSH viruses in his Virus Bulletin Conference paper last year.