Microsoft has rolled out a temporary fix for a newly discovered security flaw found in its Office software that infects PCs and grants easy access to hackers.
Microsoft is working around a newly discovered vulnerability discovered in its popular Office software affecting users' computers with infected Word documents. But the software giant immediately rolled out a temporary fix while it works on the security flaw. The company released a patch, called "Fix It," for users to protect them from the new threat.
Microsoft found that the new threat had only affected "very limited" number of users, mainly in the Middle East and South Asia. Victims received emails asking them to open tainted Word documents, which carry TIFF images. These infect PCs, granting full access to hackers. TIFF is a file format used for storing images in Word, mainly used by graphic designers, engineers, and photographers.
The new threat affects PCs running Office 2003, Office 2007 and even Office 2010 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Server 2008 and Microsoft Lync. The latest versions of Windows and Office remain unharmed.
Microsoft has advised users to take precautionary steps to bloc such viruses. Users must refrain from clicking on suspicious links or open Word documents from anonymous or unknown emails. While the software giant rolls out a permanent fix in its monthly updates and software patches, users can disable computer's TIFF codec to stop any TIFF files from displaying, including the ones that appear to be viral. Users can re-enable the option once Microsoft has completely fixed the security flaw, by following the detailed steps in the company's Suggested Actions section in its Security Advisory.
Users are also required to run a "Fix It" tool by downloading the file here.
"We are monitoring the threat landscape very closely and will continue to take appropriate action to help protect customers," Dustin Childs, Microsoft Group Manager, Response Communications, said in a blog post, explaining the advisory steps.
