PSA: Active zero-day Excel exploit

[unixronin]

Via Security Wire:

Attackers are actively exploiting a zero-day flaw in Microsoft Excel to infect and hijack targeted machines, the software giant warned in an advisory yesterday.  The only defense at this point is to avoid opening Excel files from untrusted sources.

Comments

[n5red.livejournal.com]

Install Linux.

But you knew that already.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Windows is strictly GameOS™ around here. :) Nothing important gets entrusted to it.

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

is a Callahanian and a Baen Barfly...

[darthgeek.livejournal.com]

I thought I saw something about that in work e-mail. One of our divisions is iDefense, which specializes in intelligence like this. Since one of my co-workers came from there, he still gets the notifications and such and passes them on to us.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

avoid opening [...] files from untrusted sources.

Because, y'know, that's always a good idea.

Grr!

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was my thought too. (Like, WTF, you're going to just blindly open a spreadsheet from someone claiming to be DR ABDULLAH NGAYO VICE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIAN BANKING COMMISSION?)

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

But it might have had hot stock tips in it!

As the local police chief says, "we don't catch the *smart* ones..."

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

Which means *any* source.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Realistically speaking, pretty much, yeah.