Robert McMillan

With hackers exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities in its Windows and Office software, Microsoft Corp. plans to issue 11 security updates on Tuesday.

One day after patching a widely exploited flaw in its Internet Explorer browser, Microsoft Corp. has a new bug to worry about, this time in PowerPoint.

With attackers finding new ways to exploit a critical flaw in Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp. has released a patch for the problem, ahead of its next scheduled round of security updates. The patch fixes a critical vulnerability in the way Internet Explorer renders VML (Vector Markup Language) graphics. Hackers had been exploiting the flaw, which also affects some versions of Outlook, for more than a week.

Hackers found 47 bugs in Mozilla Corp.'s open-source browsers and 38 bugs in Internet Explorer (IE) during the first six months of this year. That's up significantly from the 17 Mozilla and 25 IE bugs found in the previous six months, according to Symantec Corp.'s twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report.

Authorities have charged a 21 year-old Unisys Corp. subcontractor with stealing a desktop computer with billing information on as many as 38,000 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical patients.

Hackers have discovered a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer, and they've released code that could be used to attack users of Microsoft Corp.'s popular browser.

Microsoft Corp. has released its monthly set of security patches, fixing a critical flaw in Office. Attackers could exploit the bug by tricking Office users into opening a maliciously encoded .pub document, which would then allow attackers to run unauthorized software on a victim's PC.

Hackers continue to poke holes in Microsoft Corp.'s Office software. Symantec Corp. warns that an unpatched flaw in the Windows 2000 version of Microsoft Office 2000 is being used by attackers to run unauthorized software on a victim's computer.