14 DAY TRIAL // One of the proofs that shows that despite all the problems, Microsoft and Apple can get along is the fact that both companies are developing software for the other's operating systems. Just as Apple made iTunes and QuickTime available for the Windows platform, the Redmond Giant made Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office available for the Mac platform. As expected, these products that are far from being perfect when used with Windows operating systems are not flawless on Apple's Macs either, and a new fact that proves this can back up my words.
First of all, you should know that we're not talking about rumors here, since it's an official fact. Microsoft just found a new critical flaw in its Excel component of the Office suite for Mac, and is warning its users about it. To make things even worse, Microsoft said that while its notorious spreadsheet software is certainly vulnerable when facing a new attack, this problem "may affect other Office software as well". I know that when you expect something wrong, that usually happens, but I really hope they are wrong this time.
The Redmond-based software giant has reports about this flaw being used in small scale attacks and is currently investigating them, since no matter how isolated these attacks may be, the products exposed include Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003, as well as Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac.
In the last months, a number of similar flaws have been reported, and the attacks use the same approach in most cases - you get an email that seems legitimate, and if you open the attached document that contains malicious code... then your computer becomes your attacker's playground, enabling him to install unauthorized software on it.
This doesn't look really good at all, and all we can do at this time is to pay more attention to the emails we get, since no patch has been announced at this time...