F-Secure Reports First Viruses for Microsoft Command Shell

Microsoft released a beta of its new Microsoft Command Shell (MSH, code-named Monad) in June and already viruses have been developed that take advantage of the new technology. According to security solutions provider F-Secure, a virus writer published five example viruses in a Web-based "magazine" dedicated to writers of computer viruses.

MSH will eventually become the new Windows shell that will replace other mainstays such as command.com and cmd.exe and will offer a much more powerful scripting subsystem than its predecessors. The technology will make its public debut sometime in the future, possibly as an add-on for Windows Vista (code-named Longhorn) or as part of Exchange Server 12, due out sometime in 2006.

Microsoft currently maintains a Wiki for MSH at its Channel 9 site on the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN).