Ryan Naraine

Unpatched versions of some of the most popular software applications present a bigger threat to enterprise networks than malicious software, according to a warning from Bit9, an endpoint security vendor. Bit9, of Cambridge, Mass., on June 20 released a list of 15 widely deployed applications with critical vulnerabilities that go unnoticed in enterprise IT organizations […]

Microsoft’s security response center is recommending that businesses consider blocking Excel spreadsheet attachments at the network perimeter to help thwart targeted attacks that exploit an unpatched software vulnerability. The Redmond, Wash., software giant published a pre-patch advisory on June 19 with a list of workarounds that include blocking Excel file-types at the e-mail gateway. File […]

Microsoft June 15 confirmed that a new, undocumented flaw in its widely used Excel spreadsheet program was being used in an attack against an unnamed target. The company’s warning comes less than a month after a code-execution hole in Microsoft Word was exploited in what is described as a “super, super targeted attack” against business […]

Microsoft’s Windows Vista has a date with some of the world’s smartest hackers. The software maker will use the spotlight of the Black Hat security conference in August to show off some of the key security features and functionality being fitted into Vista. Microsoft’s appearance on the Black Hat stage is a first on many […]

BOSTON — Microsoft security researchers have used data collected from its MSRT (malicious software removal tool) to produce the clearest picture yet of the malware scourge on Windows — and it’s not a pretty sight. On the eve of the Tech 2006 conference here, the software maker offered a rare glimpse of the extent of […]

Malicious hackers are actively exploiting a flaw patched by Microsoft in its April batch of bulletins to hijack computers for use in botnets, according to a warning from malware hunters. Researchers at Exploit Prevention Labs, an Atlanta-based Internet security outfit, said several bot-seeding scripts are targeting the MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components) flaw covered in […]

A security feature used in the open-source world is now helping to harden Windows Vista against buffer overrun exploits. Microsoft has quietly fitted the feature, called ALSR (Address Space Layout Randomization) in Windows Vista Beta 2 as part of a larger plan to make it more difficult to automate attacks against the operating system. “Not […]

Working feverishly through the holiday weekend, Symantec’s security response team has completed patches for a “high-risk” worm hole in two enterprise-facing product lines. The flaw, which could allow malicious hackers to take complete control of a system without any user action, was discovered and reported by eEye Digital Security 48 hours ago. In an advisory […]

A gaping security flaw in the latest versions of Symantec’s anti-virus software suite could put millions of users at risk of a debilitating worm attack, Internet security experts warned May 25. Researchers at eEye Digital Security, the company that discovered the flaw, said it could be exploited by remote hackers to take complete control of […]

Use Microsoft Word in safe mode to protect against targeted zero-day attacks. That’s the advice from Microsoft’s security response team to counter known attacks against a serious code execution vulnerability in the widely used word processing program. In a pre-patch security advisory, Microsoft said the flaw can be exploited when a user opens a specially […]

OAKLAND, Calif.—Internet security researchers at two U.S. universities have created a prototype system for the automatic generation of vulnerability signatures, promising a new technique to block exploits from attacking unpatched software vulnerabilities. In a paper, here in PDF form, presented at the 2006 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Symposium on Security and Privacy […]

In the absence of a patch for a dangerous code execution hole in Microsoft Word, security experts are recommending that Windows users implement software restriction policies to blunt the effects of ongoing zero-day attacks. Just days after anti-virus vendors warned that malicious hackers with links to China and Taiwan were exploiting the vulnerability to launch […]