Spyware Threats

[Stefanus]

Internet Explorer 7/8 supports extended functionality by the use of ActiveX Controls. These small programs, many developed by companies other than Microsoft, help Internet Explorer 7/8 do things it can't alone.

Sometimes these ActiveX Controls cause problems that generate error messages or stop IE7/8 from working at all.

Determining which ActiveX Control is causing a problem can be almost impossible so since they're safe to delete (you'll be prompted to install them again if needed in the future), removing them one by one to determine the cause of the problem is a valuable troubleshooting step.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: Deleting IE7/8 ActiveX Controls usually takes less than 5 minutes per ActiveX Control
Here's How:

1. Open Internet Explorer 7/8.
   
   
2. Choose Tools from the menu.
   
   
3. From the resulting drop-down menu, choose Manage Add-ons, followed by Enable or Disable Add-ons....
   
   
4. In the Manage Add-ons window, choose Downloaded ActiveX Controls from the Show: drop-down box.
   
   The resulting list will show every ActiveX Control that Internet Explorer 7/8 has installed. If an ActiveX Control is causing the problem you're troubleshooting, it will be one listed here.
   
   
5. Select the first ActiveX Control listed, then click the Delete button in the Delete ActiveX area at the bottom of the window, and click OK.
   
   
6. If prompted to restart Internet Explorer, do so.
   
   
7. Close and then reopen Internet Explorer 7/8.
   
   
8. Test whatever activities in Internet Explorer were causing the problem you're troubleshooting here.
   
   If the problem is not resolved, repeat Steps 1 through 7, deleting one more ActiveX Control at a time until your problem is resolved.
   
   
9. If you've removed all Internet Explorer 7/8 ActiveX Controls and your problem continues, you may need to Selectively Disable Internet Explorer 7/8 Add-ons, unless you've done so already.

[Stefanus]

Microsoft warns of Office-related malware

January 1, 2011 6:30 PM


Microsoft's Malware Protection Center issued a warning this week that it has spotted malicious code on the Internet that can take advantage of a flaw in Word and infect computers after a user does nothing more than read an e-mail.

The flaw was addressed in November in a fix issued on Patch Tuesday, but with malicious code now spotted in the wild, the protection center apparently wants to be sure the update wasn't overlooked.

Symantec underlined the seriousness of the flaw to CNET's Elinor Mills in November:

"One of the most dangerous aspects of this vulnerability is that a user doesn't have to open a malicious e-mail to be infected," Joshua Talbot, security intelligence manager at Symantec Security Response, said at the time. "All that is required is for the content of the e-mail to appear in Outlook's Reading Pane. If a user highlights a malicious e-mail to preview it in the Reading Pane, their machine is immediately infected. The same holds true if a user opens Outlook and a malicious e-mail is the most recently received in their in-box; that e-mail will appear in the Reading Pane by default and the computer will be infected."

Users of Microsoft Office should be sure to install the fix. You can use your Start menu to check for updates: Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Update. Details of the MS10-087 update, including which software versions are affected, can be found here.