Internet, Computer, and Virus - 2003-09-05

If you are using any Microsoft software, be cautious; especially if you are using MS Word, it is very easy for internet vandals to illegally access your system and, for example, delete your files. Other Microsoft products are not in a better situation. If you have any version of Office, FrontPage, Publisher, or Works Suite on your computer, it would be wise to visit this address to stay informed about the latest news on vandalism and to install Microsoft’s repair software: http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins. With the discovery of four vulnerabilities in Microsoft systems yesterday, the total number of technical flaws from this company this year reaches 39. Fortunately, the recently discovered vulnerabilities can only harm your computers if you open an infected file. In other words, malicious codes cannot execute themselves automatically. Microsoft informed users that its software is full of holes; according to Geek.com, Christopher Anderson states that most of the issues Microsoft has announced are in the Office software suite and vary in levels of risk. The most serious threat is a vulnerability in programs that use Visual Basic (VBA). If a buffer overflows, it can allow malicious code to be injected into the program. Office XP 2000 and 2002, as well as versions of Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Word 97, Project, and Visio are also affected by this issue. If a user uses Word to write and edit emails, simply replying to or forwarding an email is enough to infect the system. Other flaws in Microsoft programs include: a vulnerability in Word that allows automatic macro execution; the same issue exists in Snapshot Viewer; NetBIOS sends data that should not be sent under conditions where the network is responding to system requests, and sensitive information may be included among this 'random' data. The Romanian police arrested the second suspect in sending the 'Blaster' virus, 24-year-old Registredat Ko Yuki Dan Dumitru Chiabanu from the city of Lasi in the north of the country, in connection with the Blaster-F worm. The difference between this worm version and the original is the change of the file name to enbiei.exe and the change of the attack target from DDoS and windowsupdate.com to the Hydro Technical University in the city of Lasi; however, in terms of mechanism and vandalism, it is similar to the previous virus. This engineering graduate student may be sentenced to 15 years in prison under Romania's new laws. Last Friday, Lee Parson was arrested in Minnesota, USA, for sending version B of the same computer worm. However, the creator of the original worm has not yet been caught.