According to this article from ZDnet, there have been five proof-of-concept viruses released that target the new command-line shell in Windows Vista. The new tool, with the unfortunate name “monad” (who are the ad wizards that came up with that one?) is a replacement for the grossly underpowered CMD.EXE that has shipped with the “Pro” versions of Windows since Windows NT (the “consumer” editions of Windows had good-ol’ COMMAND.COM up until Windows ME). Supposedly monad has some of the power and shell scripting sophistication of bash, the default UNIX shell, but with the object orientation of .Net. OK, whatever. The story here is that (1) virus writers are already targeting a new OS that won’t be around for another year, and (2) they’re able to successfully infect the shipping beta. The viruses are just proof-of-concept now, no harm done, but that’s usually a tiny step.

Good news, Symantec and NAI: Those who still don’t realize there are alternative operating systems that are free from this sort of nonsense will still need you.

Update: OK, this requires some clarification, as ZDnet subtly got it wrong. Monad can be a vector for viruses, but, at least initially, it will not be included in Windows Vista.