Security Alerts
Internet Explorer / Outlook Vulnerability
Friday, July 2, 2004
The Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT)
has issued a
warning about a vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer that
could allow an attacker to run code on your computer just by visiting a
malicious web page. Outlook, Outlook Express and Microsoft Help are
also affected.
Solution
This vulnerability can be minimized by installing the following Microsoft
Windows patches:
-
MS04-013
Security Patch (April 13, 2004)
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KB870669 Critical Update (July 2, 2004)
Note: If you have configured the
Windows Automatic Update feature (which we strongly recommend), these
fixes may already be installed on your computer.
Sasser Virus
Monday, May 3, 2004
There's a new virus making the rounds known as Sasser.
Microsoft has released an article describing the virus and how to both
prevent, detect, and recover from it.
If you've installed the Windows security patch,
MS04-011, you should be immune to the virus. You can use the
Windows Update website, or
download the MS04-011 patch by itself.
Adobe Acrobat Reader security flaw
Thursday, March 4, 2004
Security experts have found a very dangerous flaw in Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0,
a popular application for reading PDF files. The flaw would allow someone
to takeover your computer by getting you to open an XFDF file. This is
particularly dangerous because XFDF files are rendered automatically by many
browsers; by simply clicking on a link to the file, you can be attacked.
Adobe claims that the flaw does not exist in the latest version of the product,
so if you are still using Acrobat Reader 5.0, you should
upgrade to Acrobat Reader 6.0 as soon as possible.
More info
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Microsoft issued a
security bulletin on February 10 announcing the presence of a security
vulnerability in Windows NT, 2000, XP, and 2003. This is considered a critical
security flaw as it has the potential to allow an attack on the scale of last
year’s Blaster virus, which you may remember was one of the fastest-spreading
viruses in history.
Although the severity of this vulnerability is considered high, there is no need
to be alarmed. There are currently no known viruses exploiting this
vulnerability, and some anti-virus applications can already detect possible
exploits of it. As long as you have an anti-virus application and a firewall
protecting your computers, you will probably be safe even when viruses do
surface (and they will).
That said, it is still recommended that you install this update on all your
computers as early as possible.
Security Patch Available
The good news is that it is easy to protect yourself and your computers. Simply
install the latest Windows Update on each of your computers. If you have
Automatic Updates enabled, you may already have an icon in the Notification
area of your toolbar reminding you that there are updates to install (at the
far right end of your Taskbar, right next to the clock). Just click the icon
and follow the directions to install the updates.
Alternatively, you can always go to Microsoft’s
Windows Update website to install both critical and non-critical
updates. You should do this periodically anyways, because the Automatic Updates
does not install all non-critical updates.
Resources
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