TechTool Pro v3.0.6 Update

will be available soon for download and on a CD that will boot all current Macs. It has been distributed to quarterly subscribers. New in version 3.0.6:

* Global updates for Winter 2002 machines.
* Updates repair and detection.
* Fixed memory issue with File Lab.
* Fixed Directory Maintenance window bug.
* Added support for Mac OS 9.2.2.
* Added more conflicts to conflict database.
* This will be the final version of TechTool Pro that supports 68K machines.

[Updated] Microsoft Office v.X for Mac Vulnerability: Microsoft released Security Bulletin MS02-002. "Office v. X contains a network-aware anti-piracy mechanism that detects multiple copies of Office using the same product identifier (PID) running on the local network. This feature, called the Network Product Identification (PID) Checker, announces Office's own unique product ID and listens for other announcements at regular intervals. If a duplicate PID is detected, Office shuts down."

"A security vulnerability results because of a flaw in the Network PID Checker. Specifically, the Network PID Checker doesn't correctly handle a particular type of malformed announcement - receiving one causes the Network PID Checker to fail. When the Network PID fails like this, the Office v. X application will fail as well. If more than one Office v. X application was running when the packet was received, the first application launched during the session would fail. An attacker could use this vulnerability to cause other users'
Office applications to fail, with the loss of any unsaved data."

"A patch is available to fix this vulnerability. Please read the Security Bulletin for information on obtaining this patch."

[Update: Reader reports and our own experience is that the patcher appears to take a very, very long time to get started after closing all applications and later to search all drives and partitions. This leads one to believe that it is frozen or not working.]