Pestproof your PC
- — 18 February, 2000 09:42
Internet tools
Internet Explorer
Netscape
Microsoft Outlook
Eudora
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer 5.01
Security researcher Georgi Guninski has found more than a dozen security flaws in Microsoft's browser. Most of them exploit weaknesses in IE's ActiveX scripting component and could, in theory, allow hackers to access or destroy files on your computer. IE5.0 suffers from other glitches as well, including a dysfunctional back button and pages that don't download completely. You can find individual patches for IE5.0 on the Microsoft site and select which ones are likely to affect you, or reinstall IE5.01 from the cover CD.windowsupdate.microsoft.comJava Virtual Machine updateJava security experts at Xerox PARC discovered that Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine, which allows IE and other applications to run Java applets, is vulnerable to hacker attacks in ways similar to those Guninski found in IE. In response, Microsoft released updated Java Virtual Machine software for both Windows 95/98 (6.3MB) and Win NT 4 (4.4MB).www.microsoft.com/java/vm/dl_vm32.htmBubbleboy and the Scriptlet.typlib and Eyedog Security update The Scriptlet.typlib and Eyedog Security issue was primarily a curiosity when it was first reported, until someone worked out how use it as an e-mail virus. The flaw allows a "malicious site" to run certain programs through the ActiveX controls: scriptlet.typelib and Eyedog. The result is that the owner of the site can have access to your PC and read or change any files. On the e-mail front, Bubbleboy is written in Visual Basic Script and uses Microsoft ActiveX control mobile code to infect systems. Until Bubbleboy appeared, you had to open an attachment to activate an e-mail virus. In Outlook Express, the worm activates even if the e-mail is only viewed through the "Preview Pane". Applying the Scriptlet.typlib and Eyedog Security Update from this month's cover CD will fix the problem. For more information visit www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-032.asp
