Virus Advisory: September 2003

Macintosh OS X Update!

Apple has addressed several security vulnerabilities with Apple Security Updates.

Virus/Worm - Swen

W32.Swen.A@mm has been discovered on campus. W32.Swen.A (a W32.Gibe variant) is a worm which spreads by email, IRC, and by peer-to-peer file sharing networks such as KaZaA. The sent message appears to be from Microsoft, leading users to believe that the attachment is a patch for Internet Explorer. Microsoft does not send patches as attachments! Users should treat all such messages as dangerous.

DCOM Vulnerability Update

Microsoft released a new critical patch on Sept. 10, 2003. This patch supercedes the RPC DCOM patch released on 07/16/03. The CDs distributed on campus to students, faculty, and staff do NOT contain this patch. Please make plans to run Windows Update or manually apply this patch as soon as possible. <more>

Office Critical Update!

Several Microsoft Office security vulnerabilities have been discovered and are detailed here:

• Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications
• Microsoft Office Security Update
• Security Update for Microsoft Word
• Security Update for Microsoft Access

To install these security patches, go to the Microsoft Office Updates web site and click on "Check for Updates".