Microsoft has rated four of the vulnerabilities as
'critical'.
Experts at Sophos have advised businesses using Windows and
Apple Macs to take action as Microsoft issues a warning of critical
security flaws in its software.
As part of its monthly "Patch Tuesday" schedule Microsoft has
issued a number of bulletins about six security vulnerabilities in
its software. The list of affected software includes Microsoft
Office (both Windows and Mac versions), Microsoft Windows, and
Microsoft's security products Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft
Antigen, Microsoft Windows Defender, and Microsoft Forefront
Security.
Four of the vulnerabilities, which appear in Microsoft's Jet
Database Engine and in nearly every edition of Microsoft Office,
have been tagged as "critical", and could allow a hacker to gain
remote control over a user's computer or install malicious
code.
"As can be seen by this month's bunch of updates, Microsoft
security patches aren't just important for Windows users. Apple
business users would be wise to take heed of them too," said
Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant at Sophos. "As internet criminals
become more organized and financially-motivated it is more
important than ever to ensure that your business is properly
defended with the latest patches."
Home users of Microsoft Windows can visit update.microsoft.com to have
their systems scanned for Microsoft security vulnerabilities.
Sophos suggests that every IT manager responsible for security
should consider subscribing to vulnerability mailing lists such as
that operated by Microsoft at www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/notify.mspx.
How can Network Access Control help your business?
Network Access
Control enables companies to control who and what is allowed
onto their network; blocking unauthorized users, controlling guest
access, and ensuring compliance with a business's security policy.
By implementing NAC firms reduce the risk of unauthorized, guest,
non-compliant, or infected systems compromising the network,
ensuring that only correctly secured computers gain network
access.
"NAC identifies managed, unmanaged and guest computers that do
not comply with your security policy, and acts as a vital tool when
dealing with newly reported security vulnerabilities such as
these," explained Cluley. "It is possible to quickly assess, for
instance, which computers are incorrectly patched or have their
firewall disabled. You may then choose to automatically fix
vulnerabilities before allowing the PCs to access your network, or
simply block non-compliant computers."
Sophos continues to recommend companies protect their desktops
and servers with automatically updated
protection against viruses, spyware, hackers, and spam.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.