Microsoft Word is said to be the most popular word processing program around. So it comes as no surprise that it is involved in malicious attacks, from time to time.

Recently, emails have been circulating containing news about Tibet. The Subject Line also mentions that mountainous country, or perhaps China or London. The problem is the attachment that comes with it. The Word file will put a on your computer which exploits a vulnerability in Word’s file format, said security company Trend Micro.

This technique of catching your eye with current news is well-known, and has been seen regularly in the past. In any event, you should not even open unsolicited email, and certainly never open unexpected attachments. I bet you are mightily tired of hearing that. But as long as people open spam email and respond to it, the hackers will continue to send it. It is that simple.

was last patched back in May, 2007. You can easily check if your version of Word and other programs are up to date by going to the Secunia Software Inspector here. In fact, bookmark that page, and check your programs there, every so often.

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here: = > http://MyPCSecuritySite.com

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