New Microsoft Word attacks infect PCs sans macros

[Chiefcrowe]

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/russia-linked-fancy-bear-attacks-abuse-macro-less-ms-word-to-infect-pcs

https://www.wired.com/story/russia-fancy-bear-hackers-microsoft-office-flaw-and-nyc-terrorism-fears

 

[Mike64]

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/russia-linked-fancy-bear-attacks-abuse-macro-less-ms-word-to-infect-pcs

https://www.wired.com/story/russia-fancy-bear-hackers-microsoft-office-flaw-and-nyc-terrorism-fears

Well, fortunately that turned out to be less scary than I thought it would be when I saw the the titles. Like I'd click on not just one but two seriously wonky "alerts" that go so far as to mention "links to other files" and asking if I want to run cmd.exe (!) when opening a random Word document. Even one I'd personally downloaded from what appeared to be a reliable site, much less one that showed up uninvited in my email inbox. ("Why no, I would not like to infect my computer with obvious malware. But thanks for asking!")

To paraphrase one of the late Terry Pratchett's more entertaining Discworld characters (a talking dog named Gaspode): "why don't they pull one of the others, it has got bells on..."