Virus warning: Word security flaw exposed

Microsoft Word has a serious security flaw which allows viral macros to spread, according to a warning from anti-virus company Sophos.

The flaw allows viral macros to execute without warning by opening a document based on rich text format (RTF) in Word. RTF documents were previously thought to be safe, but the current vulnerability can potentially spread harmful code and infect a user's PC with a malicious virus, Sophos said.

Microsoft has released a patch that reportedly eliminates the vulnerability in Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft Word 2000, Microsoft Word 98 (J), Microsoft Word 98 for the Mac and Microsoft Word 2001 for the Mac.

See http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-028.asp .