Users of Microsoft Office on the Macintosh may find that their product serial number is a tool for hackers. Microsoft issued a security warning Wednesday saying that programmers with malicious intent could use Mac Office v. X's product identifier to shut down one or more copies of the application running on a network or connected to the Internet.
Although the Redmond, Wash.-based software titan characterized the security threat as low, the timing and unusual nature of the problem--an exploit involving an anti-piracy mechanism--could give it another black eye. The company has taken a drubbing recently from analysts and customers for security glitches involving the Excel and PowerPoint applications, secure digital content, the Windows XP operating system, and the Internet Explorer browser, among other products.
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