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ChekOf © Copyright Martin Overton (ChekWARE) 1999-2000 All Rights Reserved E-Mail ChekWARE@Cavalry.com |
Table of Contents:
What is ChekOf?ChekOf (pronounced 'Chekov') was written to monitor the macro security settings of Microsoft Office 95, 97 and 2000. It is NOT an anti-virus product, it simply warns if the macro security settings are lowered from the setting when ChekOf was started, this check is carried out every 10-30 seconds (dependant on configuration) while the program is running. Also, ChekOf will warn at startup if any of the settings are set to LOW or are Disabled. Click here for information about macro security settings for Word 95/97/2000. Version 1.10 also adds new options, these include the ability to disable/enable Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and Windows Scripting Host (WSH) (if installed). Also with this version I have added early support to monitor some registry settings that can be hijacked by malcontents for malware use (virus/Trojan/worm). Why monitor the Office macro security settings?Many macro viruses (as well as some other file viruses) will try and lower or turn off the macro protection in the Office product that they are designed to target. This lowering or disabling of macro protection will allow macro viruses to spread without you being warned that the file that you are loading/editing/printing contains macros, which may also contain a macro virus. ChekOf does not in any way check files or detect macros viruses. You should ensure that you have a good and up to date on-access virus scanner installed to actually detect viruses. ChekOf will warn you of changes to the macro security settings that may be indicative of a macro virus. Why disable Windows Scripting Host?A new class of virus now uses what is effectively Visual Basic Scripting language. This scripting language can be used to perform any task and use any application it can access. This has already been used by a number of new VBS/WSH based script viruses/worms/Trojans. Allowing this support to be turned off (as required) can effectively stop this new threat dead in the water. Why disable Visual Basic for Applications?Visual Basic for Applications (and Word/Excel Basic) are what Microsoft VBA macro viruses are written in. Allowing this support to be turned off (as required) can effectively stop a macro virus from executing. Please note that under Office 97 opening a file that contains VBA code will generate an error. Simply ignore this error and you can still read/edit/print the file as normal. You will also see an error if you use Office 2000 (however you may have selected the install-on-first-use option when installing Office 2000) in this case you may also see the Microsoft Install agent start and try to re-install VBA support. You can simply cancel the install by clicking on the Cancel button presented. Suggestions for improvements, etc.?Please contact ChekWARE if you have suggestions for improvements or additional things to monitor. Requirements:ChekOf requires you to have an IBM PC or Compatible running:
The following system files are also required:
Click here to download the latest version of ChekOf (full version with the required systems files). Copyright, etc.ChekOf Version 1.10. Copyright © ChekWARE and Martin Overton, 2000. All Rights Reserved. This version of ChekOf has been released as ShareWare. The intention of the author is to allow you to evaluate the software prior to purchase. You are entitled to use ChekOf for evaluation purposes only. After 30 days, you must either register the product or remove it from your computer. However, this product is: free
for personal, non-commercial, non-profit use. Companies or individuals that make a profit, or want the extra functionality can purchase a licensed version that (may) include several extra features not available in the Lite version. Installation:Simply unzip the ChekOf zip file to a directory on your system. The program consists of the following components:
Once unzipped to a directory, simply add a shortcut to your desktop pointing to ChekOf.exe. To ensure that ChekOf is started automatically when your system starts, simply drag the shortcut you created above, to the startup folder (under the Start button on your systems taskbar).
The pictures, on the right and left, (of the new tabbed version) show the original detected state of macro security settings for the installed versions of Microsoft Office products that are detected, as well as the last detected state (this is tested every 10-30 seconds while ChekOf is running). These reported states are:
Both the Windows Scripting and VBA state is reflected in the programs title bar, these states can be:
Clicking on the OK button, will minimize ChekOf to the taskbar. Clicking on the EXIT button, will simply exit ChekOf (unload it from memory). Please note this will stop ChekOf from monitoring your Office macro security and other settings. Clicking on the Help menu item, will offer the following entries: About
This shows the copyright information and also the status of the product (ShareWare). It also shows how to contact ChekWARE via email and the address of our web site, where you can find the latest information and version of this product as well as others that are produced by ChekWARE . Clicking on the OK button will close the About dialogue box and show the main dialogue box once more.
Goto Website Clicking on Goto Website will load your web browser and take you to the ChekWARE web site.
Disclaimer and Agreement.This software is supplied subject to the following
conditions. You are free to evaluate ChekOf for up to
30 days. After that time you should either register ChekOf or
remove it from your system. All trademarks acknowledged |
When
ChekOf is run, the program runs in a minimized state, or
not, dependant on the settings chosen. Clicking on the the title bar shows
the product name and the time that the last check was made.
The
final tab (Settings) allows you to change the behaviour of ChekOf. This
includes the ability to change the time interval between checks and the
check boxes that allow you to toggle the state of VBA and Windows
Scripting support and whether ChekOf starts in minimized or normal state.
The 'Use System tray' option is currently not enabled, I hope to add this
soon.
Clicking
on About will show the following dialogue box.
When
ChekOf detects that the macro security level of one of the detected
Microsoft Office products is lowered you will see a warning box similar to
the one on the right of this text.