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Microsoft has `patch' for latest hack flaw
Posted by: trraju on Apr 08, 2004 - 09:01 AM
Microsoft
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Microsoft Corp. warned yesterday of yet another flaw in its Outlook e-mail program that lets hackers break into a personal computer and take it over.
Microsoft described the flaw in a monthly release of software ``patches'' to fix bugs in its software. The patches are offered to users over the Internet.
The latest flaw involves Outlook 2002, a component of Microsoft's Office XP package.
Industry experts said a hacker could use the flaw to break into a PC if the victim accesses an Internet site set up by the hacker, either accidentally or in response to an unsolicited e-mail. Microsoft said e-mail messages with Internet coding might also serve as a way into a victim's computer.
But Microsoft said only Outlook programs with a default setting of ``Outlook Today'' are vulnerable.
That means a relatively small number of Outlook users would be affected because most Outlook programs have ``Inbox'' as a default setting, said Oliver Friedrichs, a senior manager at Symantec Corp.'s security response unit.
Friedrichs, whose Cupertino, Calif.-based firm specializes in Internet security, said his company hasn't seen any examples where hackers exploited the flaw.
But Friedrichs said Outlook users should still download the patch, just to be safe.
Richard M. Smith, an Internet security consultant in Brookline, said Microsoft typically offers patches every month to repair one or two flaws that could allow a hacker access to a computer in some way.
``This allows hackers to basically break into somebody's home computer and run a program on it,'' Smith said of the latest flaw. ``They're using Outlook as a vehicle to get into your hard drive.''
Smith said hackers often take advantage of such flaws to install programs that can send junk e-mail, or spam, to other computers or keep track of users' keystrokes so criminals can get private data such as credit card numbers.
©2004 Boston Herald. All rights reserved.
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