Catch up on patches

As part of its monthly "Patch Tuesday" schedule, Microsoft has issued a number of bulletins about security vulnerabilities in its software, says Brett Myroff, CEO of regional Sophos distributor, Sophos South Africa.

"The list of affected software includes Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange and various versions of Windows," he says.

Separately, however, Microsoft has issued a security advisory about an as yet unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft Office Word 2002 Service Pack 3, which could allow remote code execution, says Myroff.

"Microsoft acknowledges that it is possible that other versions of Word are also vulnerable," he warns.

"As Internet criminals become more organised and financially-motivated, it is more important than ever to ensure your business is properly defended with the latest patches."

The possible flaw in Microsoft Word is reported to be exploited in the wild by hackers, according to Myroff.

Home users of Microsoft Windows should visit update.microsoft.com to have their systems scanned for Microsoft security vulnerabilities, he advises.

Sophos suggests that every IT manager responsible for security should consider subscribing to vulnerability mailing lists such as that operated by Microsoft at www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/notify.mspx.

This week's line-up of low to medium prevalence Trojans affecting Windows users includes Troj/Agent-HE, Troj/Drop-AA, and Troj/Dwnldr-HFN, says Myroff.

"Troj/Agent-HGD, another Trojan affecting the Windows OS, is a malicious PDF that exploits a vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader to drop malicious files."

W32/GetCodec-A, a worm for the Windows platform, has also been noted.

"By implementing network access control (NAC), companies can reduce the risk of unauthorised, guest, non-compliant, or infected systems compromising the network, ensuring that only correctly secured computers gain network access.

"NAC identifies managed, unmanaged and guest computers that do not comply with your security policy, and acts as a vital tool when dealing with newly reported security vulnerabilities," Myroff concludes.