Eye on Microsoft: Attacks on Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2009-07-15 11:14:21 UTC
- Modified: 2009-07-15 11:14:45 UTC
Summary: A self-explanatory set of news articles
●
Microsoft delivers 9 patches, but leaves one hole open (so
typical)
The patches fix two bugs presently being used by hackers, but a third bug remains unaddressed
●
Microsoft Office users attacked by cybercriminals
Microsoft Corp warned that cybercriminals have attacked users of its Office software for Windows PCs, exploiting a programing flaw that the software giant has yet to repair.
The world's largest software maker issued the warning on Tuesday as it released patches to address nine other security holes in its software.
●
Second unpatched ActiveX bug hits IE
Scallywags are using an unpatched vulnerability in an ActiveX component to distribute malware, Microsoft warned on Monday. The development adds to already pressing unresolved Internet Explorer security bug woes.
No patch is available for the Office Web Components ActiveX security hole, although there are workarounds which can be automated for enterprise rollouts. The flawed component is used by IE to display Excel spreadsheets, greatly increasing the scope for mischief. Win XP and Win 2003 systems are particularly at risk, while the additional security controls in Vista cover Microsoft's modesty.
●
Microsoft Keeps Beating a Dead Browser
The question is why? If the destination is what matters, why does Microsoft care so deeply what browser people use to get there? Maybe this: Unless Bing is the browser's default search engine, no one will go there after the novelty wears off. That's probably enough to make anyone at Microsoft lose their lunch.
●
US State Dept. workers beg Clinton for Firefox
US State Department workers have begged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to let them use Firefox.
"Can you please let the staff use an alternative web browser called Firefox?" worker bee Jim Finkle asked Clinton during Friday's State Department town hall meeting.
"I just moved to the State Department from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and was surprised that State doesn’t use this browser. It was approved for the entire intelligence community, so I don’t understand why State can’t use it. It’s a much safer program."
Presumably, the State Department is using Microsoft's Internet Explorer. And we wouldn't be surprised if it's still mired in the eight-year-old IE6 [...]
Recent Techrights' Posts
- "What Comes After Free Software?" Wrongly Insinuates We've Reached the Goal (Prison is Not the Goal)
- The oil tycoons use similar tactics against environmentalists, giving them fake "wins"
- Making More Work Space
- I learned the hard way that less is more in circumstances where more means distraction
- MAHA is a Lie, Public Officials Never Valued Citizens' Health (They Still Value Private Businesses, Their Sponsors)
- Reject demagogues
- New Techrights Turns 2
- Today starts the third year of the SSG-based Techrights
- What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
- Wikileaks was a good example of this
- If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
- be (or become) independent
- The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
- In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
- Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
- Links for the day
-
- Code of Censorship
- Extortion is peace
- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Un-cancelled the Best People, Just in Time for the Big 4-0
- Mr. Oliva should have been there all along (since 2019)
- Most "Modern" Technology Makes You Slower and Dumber
- Because proprietary software makes you worse off
- Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Press Kit for the Weekend After Next Weekend (40th Anniversary)
- miles better than social [sic] media [sic] quips, moderated by narcissists and oil tycoons.
- Microsoft Had Two Waves of Mass Layoffs This Month (That We Know of) and It'll Get Worse for Microsoft Soon
- Will the axe fall again by month's end?
- Gemini Links 23/09/2025: Happy Equinox, Photronic Arts, and Perception Cognition
- Links for the day
- Lessons We've Learned After 17 Years of American Hosting
- GAFAM is "all-in" with the "Trump agenda"
- Back to Normal Now, We Plan to Do More In-Depth Series (or Multi-part Stories)
- Articles (or series thereof) that contain philosophy are important to us
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 22, 2025
- IRC logs for Monday, September 22, 2025
- Microsoft Media is Panicking Amid Mass Layoffs Every Month, H-1B Fees, and "Seattle’s Tech Scene in Trouble"
- In "late stage Microsoft", copyleft becomes proprietary
- The Next Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs Being Discussed Already
- Red Hat is sort of disappearing the way Tivoli did
- Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
- Passing fads are like this
- Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
- Betas for now
- The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
- Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
- Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
- This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
- Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
- Links for the day
- Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
- Links for the day
- The Blob Slop
- Give me more words, give me some text
- The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
- Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
- Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
- That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
- Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
- Links for the day
- Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
- IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
- Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
- Links for the day
- Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
- Originally posted by Rob Musial
- Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
- IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025