According to recent data, attacks on Microsoft Office increased fourfold during Q1 of 2018.
The report sheds light on how cyber attackers are exploiting vulnerabilities in the popular word processor to target users with malicious Word documents.
Vulnerability-based hacks are very powerful as they do not actually require interaction with users. Because of that, they can distribute malicious code discreetly. This is why these vulnerabilities have come to be common method in how cybercriminals operate and how they seek profit on unsuspecting users.
Firstly, Kaspersky Lab experts have predicted that there’s been a lot of hackers activity in this year’s first quarter. This activity is potentially permanent, and not a temporary trend. Researchers spotted 10 vulnerabilities, that may cause attacks, in the Microsoft Office software compared to only 2 in Adobe Flash during the same period.
Principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, David Emm, offers insight into the report’s findings:
“The growth of the threat landscape in the first quarter of 2018 has highlighted how a lack of management of security updates for software is one of the most threatening cyber risks. Although developers tend to issue updates on identified vulnerabilities, users often ignore them – or by the time they update their products it’s probably too late, since cybercriminals have already addressed the vulnerabilities and their victims.”
It is best to always stay current with software updates. Apart from that, avoid opening email attachments from unknown senders. Lastly, you can avoid opening viruses by not downloading or clicking on any links in your inbox.
Companies have been more and more alarmed on the extent of cyberattacks noticed during the year. Read more here.
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
