Security Alerts

Security Warning:  Emergency Patch for Adobe Reader/Acrobat Vulnerability
8/19/2010

Adobe released an emergency patch to fix three vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Acrobat:  (1) An integer overflow vulnerability related to how the software parses fonts, (2) a social engineering attack, and (3) Adobe Reader and Acrobat include a vulnerable version of Adobe Flash Player.  read more >>>

Security Warning: Critical Vulnerability in Adobe Flash, AIR, Reader, and Acrobat
6/10/2010

A vulnerability affecting Adobe Flash is being actively exploited on the Internet. Adobe Flash Player and other Adobe applications that include the Flash runtime, such as Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9, are also affected. 

Adobe released a patch for Flash Player on June 10, 2010.  Flash is included in other products independent of Flash Player.  Windows/Microsoft Automatic Updates will not install the Flash Player patch.  A patch is not yet available for Adobe Reader or Acrobat.  read more >>>

McAfee DAT 5958  Causing Windows XP Systems to Become Unusable
4/20/2010

A false positive malware detection in McAfee DAT version 5958.0000 released on April 21, 2010  6:00 AM PDT (UTC -7) can cause Windows XP systems to become unresponsive, lose network connectivity, get stuck in a restart loop, and become difficult to use (lose task bar, lose icons, access denied, etc.).  read more >>>

Oracle Releases Emergency Patch for Java Deployment Toolkit Vulnerability
4/15/2010

A vulnerability in the Java Runtime Environment is being actively exploited on the Internet.  The vulnerability was publically disclosed on Friday, April 9th after Oracle (which recently purchased Sun Micro Systems, the maker of Java) said that they would not make an emergency patch for the vulnerability.  read more >>>

Microsoft to Rlease Out-Of-Band Patch for Internet Explorer on January 21st
1/20/2010

Security Warning: Adobe Reader and Acrobat Vulnerability Being Exploited
12/21/2009

An un-patched vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat (for reading and creating PDF documents) is being actively exploited on the Internet.  Adobe is not planning to release a patch until January 12, 2010.  read more >>>

Windows  Automatic Update or Microsoft Update web site getting Error 403 - Access Forbidden
12/11/2009

When using Automatic Update or the Windows/Microsoft Update web site, you might received the error "403 - Access forbidden - You do not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied."  We are seeingmany reports of people getting this error since yesterday.

Security Watch: Microsoft Out-of-Band Patches for ATL
7/28/2009

Microsoft released two security bulletins today--one Internet Explorer bulletin and one Visual Studio bulletin--in a so called Out-of-Band release (outside their normal schedule of the second Tuesday of each month).  We previously warned that the flaw in Microsoft Video ActiveX control is deeper than the patch in Microsoft security bulletin MS09-032. These two security bulletins address that deeper flaw.

Security Warning: Vulnerable Adobe Flash Being Exploited in The Wild
7/26/2009

A vulnerability affecting Adobe Flash is being actively exploited in limited, targeted attacks on the Internet. Adobe Flash Player and other Adobe applications that include the Flash runtime, such as Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9, are also affected. There is currently no vendor patch available.

Security Watch: Vulnerability in Microsoft Video ActiveX Deeper Than Current Fix
Updated 7/24/2009

The vulnerability in the Microsoft Video ActiveX control that is being exploited on the Internet, which we previously warned about, and for which Microsoft released security bulletin MS09-032 on so-called Patch Tuesday in July, goes deeper than most people realized.  Microsoft announced that they are planning an out-of-band security update that we are assuming is to fix this vulnerability, not just avoid it as the previous patch did.

Security Warning: Vulnerability in Microsoft Office Web Components Control Being Exploited in The Wild
7/14/2009

Since yesterday, IT Professional Services has been monitoring a vulnerability in Microsoft Office Web Components Control that is being exploited on the Internet.  Yesterday the SANS Internet Storm Center raised the Infocon threat level status to yellow for 24 hours to raise awareness of active exploitation of the Office Web Components ActiveX vulnerability.  So far we know of a couple hundred web sites (mostly in China (.cn)) that are hosting this exploit, but we expect ... read more >>>

Security Warning: Vulnerable Microsoft Video ActiveX Control Being Exploited in The Wild
Updated 7/14/2009

On so-called Patch Tuesday in July Microsoft released security bulletin MS09-032 with a patch for a vulnerability in a Microsoft Video ActiveX Control (msVidCtl) that is being actively exploited on the Internet through drive-by downloads.  Initially, there were limited in-the-wild attacks; however, the vulnerability is now being exploited to a greater extent, and exploit code has been publicly published (making it easier for more use of the exploit).  Currently the vulnerability is mostly being exploited by web sites in China where thousands of hacked web sites have the malicious code added.  Many of these web sites would not be considered irreputable.  The web sites appear to have been compromised using an exploit kit.  The scope of this attack is likely to increase.

ActiveX control are one of the top targets of malicious web exploit toolkit developers. ... read more >>>

Security Warning: New Variant Conflicker Worm to Activate on April 1
3/20/2009

The Conflicker worm is the most prolific malicious software ("malware") to appear since the SQL Slammer worm epidemic of 2003.  Researchers claim that today 1 in every 16 PCs across the world is affected by Conflicker Worm and the worm had now infected an estimated 12 million or more PCs worldwide.

A new variant (C) of the Conflicker worm was discovered on March 6, 2009.  Researchers have found that the worm is set to take some action on April 1st ...  read more >>>

Tricks that Could Potentially Open Up Your Computer to Attacks by Malicious Software
9/30/2008

A recent study conducted by North Carolina State University psychology researchers found that most Internet users are susceptible to tricks that could potentially open them up to attacks by malicious software.

A common way that bad guys try to ... read more >>>

Just Say "No" to E-Cards
8/8/2008

Most people never consider the dangers of e-cards, and unfortunately, there are plenty of dangers. Since there are quite a few e-card scams going around right now, we want to help you make sure you don't become an e-card scam victim.

We recommend... read more >>>