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Hackers Target Power Point

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PPoint Hackers

What could be more ubiquitous in any AV presentation set-up than Microsoft Power Point? Hated by some, revered by others…and now PowerPoint has a new group of admirers: the hackers.

Hackers found a safety flaw in the Microsoft Office suite of software to use PowerPoint files to take control over Windows-based computers.

The hack doesn’t (yet) get a clever name like the infamous Heartbleed, but Microsoft released a security advisory admitting they have seen "targeted attacks against Windows users who use PowerPoint."

This is classified as "a zero day attack," a hacker infiltration through previously unknown vulnerabilities that the developers did not patch.

Hackers can exploit the flaw to gain complete control over the system. With this type of control, a hacker could execute any code remotely, alter the sensitive information on the computer, or install malware on the system.

This hack is effective on all releases of Windows (except Windows Server 2003).

Microsoft says all Office files could be infected with OLE objects, and the problem is not limited to PowerPoint.

Microsoft suggests users not to open any PowerPoint files downloaded from unknown or dubious sources.

Go Microsoft’s PowerPoint Alert