Virus Bulletin : Microsoft Word For Mac

All software has a ‘lifecycle’. It gets developed, released, updated and eventually abandoned — usually after a new version or two has been released in the meantime.

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Platforms: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Windows tablets Price: Free trial and paid Subscriptions (starting at $6.99 per month) If you temporarily need the full version of Word installed on your PC or Mac, you should go with an Office 365 subscription. Until a few years ago, buying Microsoft Office was a one-time cost, but a hefty one.

There’s nothing to stop you using software that’s been dropped by its developer in this way, but with no further updates or bug fixes in prospect, you face an uncertain future if something goes wrong with it. We’ve written much about the demise of Windows XP over recent months, not least since it was launched 14 years ago and was only finally abandoned by Microsoft in April last year. Microsoft makes more than just operating systems, of course, and it’s other hugely popular application is Office — so what’s happening with its? When is Microsoft Office dropped?

Microsoft Office has been around for decades — the first PC version launched in 1990 and the was released at the end of September. Microsoft has obviously long since abandoned older versions of Office and next on the hit list is Office 2010. Released in June 2010, its ‘mainstream’ support comes to an end on October 12th this year — a five-year lifecycle is usual for all Microsoft software. That means unless any outstanding bugs affect its (or Windows’) security, they won’t be fixed after this date. The clock then starts ticking for ‘extended’ support and, in another five years, that also ends. That means Microsoft then won’t issue updates of any kind for Office 2010 and it then joins Office 2007, Office 2003, Office XP, Office 97 and Office 95 in the halls of obsolete Microsoft Office suites. Gone, but not forgotten ‘Obsolete’ doesn’t mean ‘useless’, of course, and anecdotal evidence suggests that Office users tend to stick with what they’ve got rather than rush to upgrade to the latest version — unless they’re Office 360 subscribers, that is.

And by ‘anecdotal’ we mean that this piece is being written on Office 2008 for Mac — and we’re sure many of you are still using something older. Office XP (from 2002) still installs and runs perfectly well with Windows 10, for example, but is it really a good idea to keep using Office software that’s so old?

The simple answer, as you might expect, is ‘no’. Is an obsolete Office still safe? Even though you might not miss or want the new features found in later (and still supported) versions of Microsoft Office, and your version of Office 2000 (or whatever) still works perfectly well, you’re putting your PC at risk by using it. Security weaknesses and bugs in Office, just like in Windows, can be exploited by hackers in a wide range of ways.

A modern web browser and up-to-date anti-malware software might be able to intercept many kinds of attacks, but they can still miss one that’s delivered via an infected Word document attached to an email. Word 2016 may stop it in its tracks, but Word 2000, which hasn’t been updated in anyway since 2009? Probably not. In fact Microsoft only fixed in Office 2007, 2010, 2013 in August, where “An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user.” In other words, someone could run a program on your PC without your permission, or knowledge — and that’s a very bad thing. Upgrade, switch or suffer the consequences So while it’s easy to treat advice like this is just another way to persuade people to spend more money with Microsoft, the bottom line is simple. If your version of Office is no longer supported and updated, you’re putting your PC at risk by using it.

For now, that means if you’re still happily using Office 2007 and 2010, you can safely continue to do so until 2017 and 2020, respectively — just don’t expect any non-critical bugs to be fixed. Anyone using an older version of Office should seriously consider an upgrade, or switch to an alternative office suite than can still use Microsoft Office files. Check out our article: If you’re still using an old version of Microsoft Office, why haven’t you upgraded or switched to a more up-to-date alternative? Let us know in the Comments.

Until now, only Windows users were targeted by malware and other such infections. But now hackers are also showing their interest in Mac OS, and have developed ‘ Macro’ malware for Mac systems. Yes, you heard us. According to recent malware discovery, macro infected Word and Excel files in Windows along with the seemingly secure Mac OS and taking victims by surprise. MS office 2004 was also supported on the Mac OS, but such malware always focused more on Windows. But the reality is that Malware are also being developed for Mac OS and Macro is just one of the examples. Microsoft released its Office suite for Mac in 2008, which was without macro feature that disappointed a lot of users. However, this change made Mac devices immune to Macro malware.

As a result, most users preferred Mac over Windows computers for the sake of security. See Also: Nevertheless, Marco malware attacked Mac OS in February 2017. Snorre Fagerland, the senior principal security researcher at Symantec tweeted about this incident, which was later confirmed by Patrick Wardle, Director of Research at Synack.

The malware was disguised as a word file named. Allies and Rivals Digest Trump’s Victory – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.” The objectives of Macro malware are still unknown.

But researches are still trying to identify the damages caused once this gets on a system. Image Source: hongkiat.com In new MS Word, Macros automatically run and update themselves. This becomes a gateway for the malware that tricks users to enable them and executes malicious Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code.

The Auto Open function will automatically be enabled on screen. Whenever you open a Word file containing macros, your device will ask for your permission. The only way to prevent the malware from spreading is ‘denying the permission’. However, if you ‘run’ it on your system by mistake, the embedded Macro executes a function.

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You might end up compromising your personal & financial information, browsing history or downloading another malware. As per various sources, the attack is based on Metasploit, is an open source framework that also contains legitimate applications. See Also: Mac malware is more familiar this time. Most times, virus and malware attack our computers through untrusted sources. Wise decision is to start using the inbuilt Software Updater to check latest updates and visiting plugin website directly to download them. Windows users have already dealt with Macros malware, hence it’s easier for them to protect Mac. The best way to go about this is by avoiding auto updates and disabling Macros.

As Windows systems are usually designed by businesses, disable option is selected as default. Ignore fake updates and do not download anything from untrusted websites. Mac users should be more vigilant, as such attacks are still new to them and hackers are more persistent than ever.