Strange E-Mail from Microsoft

C

Christopher Welch

We recently received an e-mail with the subject:
Fw: Requirement to install certain updates for future deployments of select
Microsoft Office products.

The message begins:
It was recently decided in a court of law that certain portions of code
found in Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003, Microsoft Office Access
2003, Microsoft Office XP Professional and Microsoft Access 2002 infringe a
third-party patent. As a result, Microsoft must make available a revised
version of these products with the allegedly infringing code replaced.

The message looks to come from Microsoft, but the wording seems strange, and
I can only find a few references to it online, none from sources I'm
farmiliar with. Is this a legitimate e-mail?
 
C

Carey Frisch [MVP]

Delete the email message...it's bogus!

How to tell whether a Microsoft security-related e-mail message is genuine
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/ms_genuine_mail.mspx

Fraudulent e-mail sent to Microsoft customers
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/msphishing.mspx

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| We recently received an e-mail with the subject:
| Fw: Requirement to install certain updates for future deployments of select
| Microsoft Office products.
|
| The message begins:
| It was recently decided in a court of law that certain portions of code
| found in Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003, Microsoft Office Access
| 2003, Microsoft Office XP Professional and Microsoft Access 2002 infringe a
| third-party patent. As a result, Microsoft must make available a revised
| version of these products with the allegedly infringing code replaced.
|
| The message looks to come from Microsoft, but the wording seems strange, and
| I can only find a few references to it online, none from sources I'm
| farmiliar with. Is this a legitimate e-mail?
 
M

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

The e-mail is legitimate and has been going out to corporate clients for the
past few weeks. It addresses a problem using Office XP and Office 2003 with
certain code that has found to be infringing upon another's patent.

Users must update to SP-2 for Office 2003 and an Update for Office XP will
be released soon to address the infringing code.

Do not automatically assume that improbable e-mail from Microsoft must be
bogus - sometimes the improbable is true.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.


After furious head scratching, Carey Frisch [MVP] asked:

| Delete the email message...it's bogus!
|
| How to tell whether a Microsoft security-related e-mail message is
| genuine
| http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/ms_genuine_mail.mspx
|
| Fraudulent e-mail sent to Microsoft customers
| http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/msphishing.mspx
|
|
|| We recently received an e-mail with the subject:
|| Fw: Requirement to install certain updates for future deployments of
|| select Microsoft Office products.
||
|| The message begins:
|| It was recently decided in a court of law that certain portions of
|| code found in Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003, Microsoft
|| Office Access 2003, Microsoft Office XP Professional and Microsoft
|| Access 2002 infringe a third-party patent. As a result, Microsoft
|| must make available a revised version of these products with the
|| allegedly infringing code replaced.
||
|| The message looks to come from Microsoft, but the wording seems
|| strange, and I can only find a few references to it online, none
|| from sources I'm farmiliar with. Is this a legitimate e-mail?
 
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