Time to update Microsoft Office -- again
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| One item that I read this week about a flaw in Microsoft Office prompted me
| to write this article, issuing, as it were, a “security alert.” You need to
| update Microsoft Office. This applies to Microsoft Windows and Apple
| Macintosh computers.
|
| It seems that “attack code” has been released on the Internet that allows the
| bad guys to exploit a security flaw in Microsoft’s Excel program. In simple
| terms, this means that opening a specially crafted malicious Excel file could
| infect your computer with viruses, spyware, password-stealers and other nasty
| hacker tools. Your computer could even be turned into a “zombie” and made
| part of a large network of other infected machines, covertly controlled to
| distribute spam, porn and attack more lucrative targets.
|
| Microsoft has been dragging its feet about the flaw for more than two months,
| admitting in January that “Microsoft is aware of specific targeted attacks
| that attempt to use this vulnerability.” However, they didn’t consider the
| flaw important enough at the time to correct the problem. Their only advice
| was to block all Excel files coming in over a network, such as e-mail
| attachments.
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http://www.normantranscript.com/commerce/local_story_088002335
Watch this video. OpenOffice.org and Linux more widely use than you realise.
What is the free software community?
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| In this video, I try to answer the question “What is the free software
| community?” Comments, or even community posts in response to this, are most
| welcome!
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http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/what_free_software_community
Recent:
Bots rule in cyberspace
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| USA TODAY REPORTS that on an average day, 40 per cent of the 800 million
| computers connected to the Internet are bots used to send out spam, viruses
| and to mine for sensitive personal data.
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http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/17/bots-rule-cyberspace
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2008-03-16-computer-botnets_N.htm
Windows Vista immune to remote code execution flaw in Microsoft Jet Database
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| Windows Vista users, count your blessings. Though the operating system may
| be flawed, sluggish in some areas and have issues with installing the new
| service pack; it is not vulnerable to a new flaw exposed in the Microsoft Jet
| Database Engine which could allow remote code execution.
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http://vista.blorge.com/2008/03/22/windows-vista-immune-to-remote-code-execution-flaw-in-microsoft-jet-database/
Related:
Microsoft quietly tackles known Wi-Fi flaw
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| Microsoft has quietly posted an update found here. The update
| prevents a Windows wireless client on a laptop from advertising
| its preferred wireless network list to the world at large.
|
| But the update appears to leave open the larger problem, which
| is having your laptop connect to a criminal rogue access point
| with the same default name as one of your preferred home networks.
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http://news.com.com/2061-10789_3-6143573.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
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