New Web Attack Identified

February 26, 1999 (12:00 AM EST)

By Lee Bruno,

There's word this week of a Web-based attack with which cyberthugs can load malicious code onto a PC without the user knowing. It's called the Russian New Year attack, and anyone with a browser and using Excel or Office 95 from Microsoft is at risk.

Here's how it works: A cyberthug sends an e-mail message with a Web-page attachment or pointer to a website in which the offending code is embedded. Once the user clicks on it, the code can insert itself onto the desktop by using the call function in Excel and Word, according to Finjan, in Santa Clara, Calif. The call function divides websites into sections known as frames and is widely used on Wall Street to capture data from financial applications.

Finjan recommends network managers install or upgrade desktop systems running Microsoft's Office 95 and 97 with Service Release 1 and then install Service Release 2, plus a patch to eliminate the call function (the software is available at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadDetails/xl97cfp.html).

For desktops running Internet Explorer version 4.x, users need to adjust security to the highest level; users of Navigator browsers from Netscape, in Mountain View, Calif., should install or upgrade to Navigator 4.5.