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New tricks, old defenses

Posted on September 28, 2007 - 09:37 by mweinstein

PC World has an article about some new malware tricks. The lead sentence is right on the money:

If the crooks behind viruses, Trojan horses, and other malicious software were as stupid as they are scummy, we'd have a lot less to worry about.

Some of the tricks are pretty clever and interesting to read about. In the end, though, the defenses are the same as always: keep software up to date, use security software from a trusted source, and exercise caution when using your PC (or, even more so, others' PCs).

Tags: 
article, malware, stopbadware

New service pack for Office 2003

Posted on September 26, 2007 - 15:55 by mweinstein

Microsoft has released a new service pack (service pack 3) for Microsoft Office 2003, the pervasive suite of applications that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. This service pack reportedly fixes a long list of security vulnerabilities in these applications. While we have not seen a lot of Office-related attacks lately, these apps represent a potential attack vector that home and business users alike should be trying to block by installing updates like this latest service pack.

Despite popular belief, the Automatic Update feature in Windows does not download updates for Office and other applications, but only for Windows and Internet Explorer. (There is a free download known as Microsoft Update that extends Automatic Update to include Office products.) Therefore, you may need to follow the link above for instructions on how to download and install the service pack.

Tags: 
microsoft, office, stopbadware

Welcome to our new sponsors!

Posted on September 12, 2007 - 15:49 by mweinstein

Since being hired as the manager of StopBadware, I have been proud that we counted amongst our sponsors some of the leading companies in the technology industry: Google, Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems. Their support has been critical to StopBadware's success in fighting badware through dissemination of research and management of the Clearinghouse appeals process.

We are now excited to welcome two additional sponsors: VeriSign and PayPal. Like our other partners, these two companies are committed to addressing security issues so that the web can be a safer place for all of us. With their help, StopBadware will continue to be an objective source of information about badware and those who spread it.

Tags: 
paypal, stopbadware, verisign

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