JUNE 17, 2022
For all Windows users across the globe, Microsoft wants you to install the June update urgently, as it fixes a major security bug that has already been exploited by hackers. Anybody with a Windows 7, 10 or 11 version, should upgrade to the latest software version with the new update as soon as possible.
The new update has been issued after a major security vulnerability called Follina has been discovered by security researchers few days back. They even informed Microsoft about the flaw but the company did not pay heed to their research and dismissed its concerns.
Follina is a sophisticated flaw, one that is infected using software like Microsoft Word. Chinese hackers have already attacked people from Tibet by infecting their systems with malware-ridden Word documents.
The Follina exploit lets the attacker take control of the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) which is their gateway to access programs on a system, install new software and create new user accounts on the infected system as well. Windows users on different versions need to install the respect firmware KB5014699 and KB5014697 for Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems, respectively.
“Microsoft strongly recommends that customers install the updates to be fully protected from the vulnerability,” as informed by Microsoft to its users. “Customers whose systems are configured to receive automatic updates do not need to take any further action,” it adds.
In addition to the incident we mentioned here, the Follina exploit has been used to target the government agencies of the US and Europe via a phishing campaign, where a message was sent with an attachment carrying the malware to infect the targeted systems.
As we reported earlier, Microsoft Office 2013 and later versions, including Office 2021 have been found vulnerable to the attacks. Some versions included with a Microsoft 365 license could also be vulnerable on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems.
