14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has warned testers that have or are looking to jump the gun and grab the bits for Office 2010 Technology Preview before they are released through the company's official channels that the leaked CTP builds come with an inherent threat of getting infected with malicious code. There are similarities between the development processes of Windows 7 and that of Office 2010, formerly codenamed Office 14, in more aspects than one. Both of Microsoft's cash cows have been leaked and offered for download through illegal third-party sources, including torrent trackers. And both Windows 7 and Office 2010 are used by malware authors as incentives to spread and get users infected with malicious code.
Reed Shaffner, Office TPM, revealed that users downloading and installing leaked copies of Office 2010 Technical Preview could end up deploying more than they have bargained for. “As a heads up, because we want to ensure our customers are safe, we have been monitoring various torrents and already detected quite a few that were infected. As a reminder, the Win 7 leak was used as a vector for attack and it’s not surprising to see this being used the same way. So, please be aware that if you download this torrent there is a very good chance you are also getting some unexpected malware with it,” Shaffner stated.
At this point in time Microsoft has failed to provide any indications related to the malicious code that has been bundled with leaked Office 2010 Technical Preview bits. Earlier this month, both Microsoft and third-party security companies including Trend Micro and Damballa confirmed that pirated Release Candidate builds of Windows 7 (7100) were infested with a Trojan horse, bundled deep within the operating system and which was building a botnet of zombie computers out of the machines it managed to infect. As no details are available on the malware packaged into Office 2010 CTP, there is no way of telling whether users are up against the same threat as in the case of Windows 7 or if the next generation of Microsoft's productivity suite is just incentive in a fresh attack.
“I wanted to (...) acknowledge the information that you have seen today around bits of Office 2010 being leaked. While all of us here are happy to see the incredible excitement and engagement (and are absolutely chomping at the bit to reach the July milestone) we aren’t quite ready to release the technical preview bits. I would encourage all of you to wait until the official bits are available to ensure the best possible experience and not miss out on anything we may include,” Shaffner added.
Microsoft plans to release the Office 2010 Community Technology Preview at the start of July 2009 as a limited, invitation-only testing program.