Microsoft Readies Excel Patch

Microsoft is warning that cybercriminals are exploiting a new flaw in Excel, which the software giant may patch as soon as its next set of security updates, expected February 13.

A Microsoft alert confirmed late Friday that its spreadsheet software is vulnerable to a new attack, and said the problem may affect other Office software as well.

The software giant is investigating reports that the flaw is being used by criminals in "very limited," attacks, according to a Microsoft security advisory.

This latest flaw affects Microsoft Office 2000, Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft Office 2003, and Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac.

Over the past year hackers have increasingly focused on Office applications as a security hole and the attacks based on these flaws are often the same: Criminals send an e-mail that appears legitimate, and trick unsuspecting users into opening a maliciously encoded document. Once the document is opened, attackers are able to install unauthorized software on the victim's system.

Our report comes from Robert McMillan of the IDG News Service.

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