Hackers Find Way To Attack MS Word

Hackers Find Way To Attack MS Word

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Story Published: May 22, 2006 at 4:55 AM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 8:26 AM PDT

By Herb Weisbaum

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SEATTLE - Here we go again. Hackers are attacking corporate computers via a security hole in Microsoft Word XP and Word 2003.

Until the flaw is patched, opening an infected document attached to an e-mail message could have serious security consequences.

"The attacker is basically loading a backdoor Trojan program onto the victim's machine and using that to steal information," explains Vincent Weafer with the antivirus company Symantec.

Hackers have already tried to exploit this flaw with government computers in Japan. Other attempts are expected, but Weafer says this current attack appears limited to corporate computers.

"In general, we don't believe this particular attack will migrate down to small businesses or home users."

Microsoft says it's working on a patch, which is scheduled to be available on June 13 as part of a new batch of security updates.

Microsoft Word Viewer does not seem to be at risk. So until the patch is out, that may be a good way to view attached documents.

For More Information:

New Trojan Horse Attacks Microsoft Word

Recommended Defenses

Microsoft: Hackers Exploiting Unpatched Flaw in MS Word

Zero-Day Word Flaw Used in Attack

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