MS Office flaw back to cause havoc

MS Office flaw back to cause havoc

An MS Office flaw referred to as CVE-2010-3333, initially found late in 2012, is now allegedly being used again as a tool by cyber criminals.

IT security firm Rapid7 performed an evaluation of the flaw, and concluded that MS Office versions 2003, 2007, 2010 and XP are vulnerable. However, it also explained how the code makes no effort to take advantage of the flaw through MS Outlook. The firm noted:

“The Microsoft Word RTF (Rich Text Format) parser was only used by default in versions of Microsoft Word itself prior to Office 2007. With the release of Office 2007, Microsoft began using the Word RTF parser, by default, to handle rich-text messages within Outlook as well.”

Security tech firm Commtouch said that CVE-2010-3333 is in the spotlight again due to it being so easily subject to exploitation, as well as users failing to apply the necessary update to resolve the issue.

A Commtouch security researcher, Lordian Mosuela, said in his evaluation that the samples of the exploit seen in May take apart the ‘pFragments’ structure in the RFT in a bidt to avoid discovery.

The company said that the answer to the problem is to apply the latest MS Office and Windows updates, as well as to ensure that antivirus elements remain up to date.

Businesses would be well advised to follow this advice to prevent any breaches caused by the flaw. By taking IT security recruitment more seriously and having the right personnel in place to effective manage patching, many companies will save themselves trouble in the long run.

Our accreditations & Partners

  • REC Member
  • VTC - Virtual Technology Cluster
  • Bloom Nepro
  • YPO
  • Crown Commerical Service
  • Disability Confident
  • ISO 9001
  • Armed Force Covenant
  • Cyber Essentials Plus
  • ISO 27001

Thanks

Success

Thanks

Success

Thank you for signing up to the acumin alerts.

Send CV

Send us your CV and have our recruiters match you to the ideal opportunities

Do you already have an account with us?

Log in

Want to have an account with us?

Register

Want to just send us your CV?

Upload only doc, docx, odt, pdf format file.

By submitting your registration and CV to us you are agreeing to join our database and to be contacted about relevant jobs industry communications. Please read our terms of business for more information.

Password reset

If you need a reminder for your password, fill out the field below

Log in

Access your account to edit your contact details, job alerts or to upload a new CV

Thank you

Success

Thank you for successfully uploading your CV.

Acumin Alerts

Success

Thanks for registering for Acumin alerts.

Acumin Alerts

Unfortunately your CV could not be uploaded

Please make sure your CV is one of the following file types: doc, docx, odt, pdf, rtf

Acumin Spam

Unfortunately your submission has been declared spam. Please try again.

Vacancy

Success

Thank you for submitting your vacancy.

Register

Create an account to register your contact details, sign up for job alerts and upload your CV

Success

Thanks for registering for Acumin alerts. To get the most out of Acumin's service why not register with us?

Upload only doc, docx, odt, pdf format file.
- Practitioner
- Commercial

I agree to the terms and conditions and to be contacted by recruiters:

I agree to receive marketing communications relevant to my job search:

I agree to receive Jobs By Email for the following professions:
- Business Continuity Management
- Counter Fraud
- Cyber Security
- Executive Management
- Governance & Compliance
- Information Security & Risk Management
- Penetration Testing & Digital Forensics
- Sales and Marketing
- Sales Engineering
- Security Management
- Technical Security
- Information/Risk Assurance
- Identity Management
- Application Security
- Security Architecture
- Dev/Sec Ops
- DV & SC Cleared Jobs
- Programme & Project Management
- CISO/CSO

Submit a Vacancy

Use the form below to submit a vacancy