Microsoft is investigating reports of a new vulnerability in PowerPoint
Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have reminded computer users to be wary of opening unsolicited files as reports circulate of a newly discovered vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint. The unpatched flaw is believed to allow hackers to run malicious code, such as a worm, on Windows and Mac computers.
Microsoft has published details of the issue in a security advisory on its website. The vulnerability is believed to affect Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003, Microsoft PowerPoint 2004 for Mac, and Microsoft PowerPoint v. X for Mac.
"It's been a bad few weeks for Microsoft on the security front. No sooner have they rushed to deal with a zero day vulnerability in the way their products handle Vector Markup Language than they discover an apparent problem with PowerPoint files," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Hackers are showing increasing ingenuity in their attempts to break into innocent users' computers, and are hunting for bugs in commonly-used programs to exploit. PowerPoint is the standard business tool for presentations, underlining that all computer users need to show great caution when handling unsolicited email attachments."
In July, in a similar incident, Sophos reported how Chinese hackers were exploiting a different zero day vulnerability in Microsoft Powerpoint to install a keylogging Trojan horse.
Sophos recommends that companies protect their email gateways with a consolidated solution to defend against viruses, spyware and spam, as well as apply an email policy that filters unsolicited content at the gateway. Businesses should also secure their desktop and servers with automatically updated protection and firewalls.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.