Text Box: malicious MJPEG file, and flaws in the Microsoft Windows HTTP Services (MS009-013) that can be targeted by a malicious Web site. For full details on this month's Microsoft fixes, including those listed as only important or moderate, see the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for April. Text Box: Microsoft today released patches for a variety of critical holes in Excel, Internet Explorer, WordPad and other Windows operating system and application components. The Patch Tuesday batch includes five patches that address 10 critical flaws, along with other fixes for a total of 21 vulnerabilities. The first critical patch closes an Excel hole that has been under the gun since February, and is finally fixed today with the MS09-009 patch A second flaw, affecting Wordpad and Office text converters, has also already been attacked. The flaw is again listed as critical for Text Box: Office 2000, and important for Office XP, the Office Converter Pack, and Windows XP, 2000 and Server 2003. See the MS09-010 bulletin for more details. A major patch batch wouldn't be complete without some kind of Internet Explorer fix, and MS09-014 closes a major hole in IE 6 and 7. Viewing a poisoned Web page could allow an attacker to effectively take over a vulnerable PC. The flaw is critical for IE 6 and IE 7, IE 8 is not affected. Other critical fixes include patches for a newly discovered DirectX hole (MS09-011) that can be exploited if you open a Text Box: April Showers bring...Microsoft Patches Text Box: “Conficker” Virus Panic Doesn’t Live Up to Billing Text Box: The Global panic over the April 1 payload date for the Conficker Worm virus, reputed to possibly affect up to 9 million computers in the US, failed to produce any kind of real damage. Sophos, Trend and McAffee Anti Virus sites noted that most users were unaffected Text Box: by the virus. The Conficker Worm was first discovered in September of 2008, and a series of Microsoft patches released in October 2008 closed the vulnerability it was designed to attack. Most antivirus vendors also updated their virus Text Box: signatures to cope with the evolving virus.

The FocIS Group

Www.thefocisgroup.com

Spring 2009

Issue 2

 FocIS on             Technology     

Links for Home and Business Users

· MalwareBytes Spyware Killer

· http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

· Great utility for removing  spyware, Trojan horse programs, keyloggers, and other threats.

· Avast Anti Virus

· http://www.avast.com

· Our recommended anti-virus program, free for home users—works better than the big guys (Symantec, McAfee).

· Goo-Ify Your Brain

· http://www.hulu.com

· You’ve seen the commercials, featuring celebrity “aliens” plotting to rot your brain—now see the shows online.

· COSE Free Trial Membership

· http://my.cose.org/freetrial

· Looking for tips to grow a small business?  COSE can help, with seminars, tips, and discounts.  Sign up for a FREE trial membership.

· Download Central

· http://www.download.com

· This site is a treasure trove of trial and free software for a wide variety of uses—check out their top downloads for a look at what everyone else is downloading.

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