Patch Tuesday Plugs 12 Holes in Microsoft Office

On Patch Tuesday, Microsoft fixed 12 vulnerabilities in four security bulletins. Every one of them fixes bugs in Microsoft Office.Included is a fix for the zero-day remote-code vulnerability in Excel. The exploit was made public in January and is corrected by the MS08-014 patch that addresses seven vulnerabilities in Excel. The other patches, MS08-015, MS08-016 and MS08-017, address issues in Outlook, Office and Office Web Components, respectively.

All the security bulletins are serious, but the Office Web Components patch stands out because these ActiveX components are widely distributed and relatively easy to exploit, according to Ben Greenbaum, senior research manager for Symantec Security Response. Symantec has observed attackers continuing to target Web plug-ins to quickly and quietly install malicious code.

“While browser plug-ins of all kinds represent an increasingly attractive vector for attackers, the security of other nonnetwork-facing applications is still a relevant issue as well,” Greenbaum said. “With seven vulnerabilities being addressed in the Microsoft Excel patch, it’s clear that users need to keep all software patched and up to date. Additionally, full-featured security software can protect users from attacks against some vulnerabilities well in advance of the availability of patches.”

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Add comment March 12th, 2008

Google Quickly Closes DoubleClick Deal

After nearly a year of discussions and regulatory delays, online search giant Google closed its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick Inc., one of the leading Internet advertising service providers. Google reportedly closed the deal and took control of DoubleClick within hours of receiving approval from the European Commission.The EC had begun a review of the proposed DoubleClick acquisition six months ago and finally determined that the purchase would not be prohibitive to competition in the world of online advertising, despite protests from competitors. In justifying its decision, the EC focused on the fact that Google offers free search capabilities and sells advertising through its AdSense network, whereas DoubleClick sells ad serving, management and reporting technology to Web-site publishers and to advertisers and agencies.

“The commission’s in-depth market investigation found that Google and DoubleClick were not exerting major competitive constraints on each other’s activities and could, therefore, not be considered as competitors at the moment,” the EC said. “Even if DoubleClick could become an effective competitor in online intermediation services, it is likely that other competitors would continue to exert sufficient competitive pressure after the merger.”

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Add comment March 12th, 2008