Day: January 19, 2007

So, Excel has a problem… Microsoft issues a security patch… then, they come back behind that and “patch” the patch! Why? Because if you install the patch… you then can’t open some of your own Excel files! Way to go, M$!

Microsoft Patches Buggy Excel Patch

Microsoft has re-released an update issued in its January 2007 patch batch to correct a glitch in the way Excel 2000 processes information. The company announced that the ‘targeted re-release’ was necessary to correct the bug, which occurs in the way Excel 2000 processes the phonetic information embedded in files created using Excel in the Korean, Chinese or Japanese executable mode. ‘After you install [the patch], you can no longer open some files that you created by using any version of Excel,’ the company warned. The patch was shipped Jan. 9 as part of the MS07-002 bulletin that provided fixes for a total of five Microsoft Excel vulnerabilities. The update is rated ‘critical,’ Microsoft’s highest severity rating.

The timely news of storms in Europe is being used to spread a worm across the net.

Storm Worm Hits Computers Around the World

“Computer virus writers started to use raging European storms on Friday to attack thousands of computers in an unusual real-time assault, head of research at Finnish data security firm F-Secure told Reuters. The virus, which the company named ‘Storm Worm,’ is sent to hundreds of thousands of e-mail addresses globally, with the e-mail’s subject line saying ‘230 dead as storm batters Europe.’ The attached file contains the so-called malware that can infiltrate computer systems. ‘What makes this exceptional is the timely nature of the attack,’ Mikko Hypponen, head of research at F-Secure said. Hypponen said thousands of computers around the world, most in private use, had been affected. He said most users would not notice the malware, or trojan, which creates a back door to the computer that can be exploited later to steal data or to use the computer to post spam.”