Forum Discussion
How can microsoft office put security at risk?
Ok so first things first i fully understand that because of the type of question i am asking the moderators may delete this post.
I had been using microsoft office home and student 2007 for 12 years and somebody said i was putting my security at risk.
I went out and got the 2019 version and have read in computeractive magazine they microsoft are going to stop support and security updates for this version.
I get that you can get a virus from a download , an email or a website but how can anyone hit you through word.
3 Replies
Just like with your old version of Office, Microsoft eventually stops providing support and security updates for older versions. This means that, once support ends, any newly discovered vulnerabilities won't be patched, leaving your system open to exploits. As you mentioned, Office 2019 will eventually lose support too, which is a concern.
Cybercriminals often use Office documents as part of phishing tactics. They might send an email with a fake invoice or a seemingly legitimate document that leads to counterfeit login pages or requests sensitive information. Even if the document itself isn’t malicious, if you’re tricked into providing your information, that poses a huge security risk.
Microsoft Office applications like Word and Excel allow the use of macros—automated scripts that can perform tasks. Attackers can embed malicious macros in documents. When a user opens the document and enables macros, it can execute harmful code on their system.
