A dangerous new security vulnerability has been discovered in Microsoft’s Office software, threatening to hijack users of virtually every existing version of Windows.

The bug in question affects programs like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel – and could allow an intruder to gain access to and control over a user’s entire computer.

Already, Microsoft has discovered that hackers are using the bug to hack computers through PowerPoint. Windows users should be wary of opening PowerPoint files sent via email unless they completely trust the original source, the company wrote in an online security advisory. Even in cases involving trusted sources, it has advised to not open the files received unexpectedly.

“Microsoft is aware of a vulnerability affecting all supported releases of Microsoft Windows, excluding Windows Server 2003,” their online statement reads. “The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Microsoft Office file that contains an OLE object. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user.”

While PowerPoint is the only known program affected so far, it is still possible that Word and Excel documents are vulnerable.

Read the Full Article: Source – Russia Today
http://rt.com/usa/199915-microsoft-office-hack-powerpoint/

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