Exchange Messaging Outlook
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Today's highlights:
Regular features:
CDO Security Update As promised in the documentation for the original Outlook E-mail Security Update, Microsoft has now posted a patch for Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) for Outlook 2000 users. This update has the same effect on applications using CDO as the Outlook E-mail Security Update has on applications using the Outlook object model. It blocks these functions:
Any program that tries to use CDO to get to address information or send a message will pop up a prompt that the user must respond to before the program can continue its work. A system running this patch will not be able to save "dangerous" attachments with CDO code. As with the Outlook E-mail Security Update, administrators can customize the effects of the CDO patch with the security settings form. See http://www.microsoft.com/Office/ORK/2000/journ/outsecupdate.htm. This is the only way to override the security settings in the update. Standalone users and users in other mail environments cannot customize the features of the update in any way. You can download this update from http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/downloadDetails/Cdo2k.htm, but first read the detailed information at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q268/2/79.asp. This patch applies only to Outlook 2000 and requires both Office Service Release 1/1a and the Outlook E-mail Security Update. The readme.txt file included with the update implies that it can be used with Outlook 98, but this is not correct. There also is no version for Outlook 97. Most people don't need this patch, because CDO is not installed with Outlook 2000 by default. If the Cdo.dll file is not on your system, the patch will say that it installs successfully, but it won't actually do anything to your system. Under no circumstances should you install the CDO update on a server! This is strictly a client update. If you successfully install it on a server, your Exchange Server scripts, Outlook Web Access and any other ASP pages that use CDO may stop working. For more information on the CDO Security Update, including removal instructions, see http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/esecup/ol2000cdo.htm. Other Office security updates Microsoft has closed a potential security hole in the WordMail feature of Outlook 2000 and Word 2000 by issuing the Word 2000 SR-1 Mail Command Security Update. The loophole theoretically could let an external program send a plain text or HTML format message created with Outlook using Word as the editor. You can download this update from http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/downloaddetails/wd2ksec.htm. It requires both Office 2000 Service Release 1/1a and the Outlook E-mail Security Update. For more information, see the MSKB article at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q265/0/31.asp. Another update plugs holes in HTML mail (and web pages) that could allow unsafe scripts to be run using Excel 2000 and PowerPoint 2000. See these pages for more details:
One more update applies a similar fix to PowerPoint 97:
More on handheld synchronization In the last issue of EMO, I asked for your input on what issues are at the top of your list when it comes to synchronizing Outlook data with a handheld device -- whether it's a Palm, a Pocket PC or some other tool. The responses were very interesting. One thing I learned is that synchronizing custom items or public folders may be a minor issue compared with such things as handling repeating appointments. Outlook stores a recurring appointment as a single item and just displays the individual instances as needed. But your PDA might not be able to handle repeating appointments that way. It might need to store each instance separately. So what happens when you sync back to Outlook? The sync software might create a new item in Outlook for each appointment instance in the PDA. Phone numbers are another issue. As discussed in previous EMO issues, Outlook defaults to storing phone numbers in a format that makes it possible to distinguish the country, area/city code and local number. This allows Windows dialing location properties to govern exactly how a number is dialed. However, the parentheses and other punctuation that Outlook users makes for a longer number than some PDA users (and devices) may want to store. Another EMO reader points out that there are a number of web-based solutions that support synchronizing between Outlook and a handheld device, with the web site's storage in the middle. See http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/sync.htm#web for at least a partial list. These services often offer some very useful features such as automatically upgrading you to the latest version of their software and storing a copy of your contacts and other Outlook data so that you can get to it via any browser. I don't want to get into the debate over which PDA is best, but a couple of readers wrote about their favorites. Toward the low end of the scale is the Casio (http://www.casio.com) Pocket Viewer line and the free Enterprise Harmony 99 synchronization software that works with the PV-100, PV-200, PV-200A and PV-200A . I've also heard many good things about the BlackBerry unit (http://www.rim.net), especially from people who install the server component on their Exchange Server. Solutions like BlackBerry get into a whole different level of synchronization. Instead of running software on a PC, the user connects the handheld device directly with the server. We've been taking notes on this kind of application, but have not had a chance yet to do any feature-by-feature comparisons. Here are some of the products we've found:
Mobile data access -- whether via synchronization to a desktop system or direct server connection -- is getting more and more attention. We'll continue to be interested in your comments and try to discover what important issues you should consider when choosing a solution for your mobile devices. Write us at mailto:emo@slipstick.com?subject=sync if you have an opinion. Exchange 2000 delayed + Small Business Server 2000Microsoft is pushing back the release of Exchange 2000. Press reports point to an October date. See:
You can check the latest features list for Exchange 2000 at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/productinfo/FeaturesGuide.htm and get Release Candidate 2 from http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/productinfo/OrderKit.htm. Exchange 2000 will be included in Small Business Server 2000 for organizations with 50 or fewer computers, for release in late fall 2000. |
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New Utilities |
AntiViral Toolkit Pro for Microsoft Exchange
Server http://www.kasperskylab.ru/eng/products/exchange.asp Centralized detection and removal of the computer viruses and malicious code from e-mail messages. The program cleans e-mail messages before they reach destination computer. AntiViral Toolkit Pro for MS Office 2000 http://www.avp2000.com/ Mail Checker, one of four components, is an Outlook-integrated barrier against computer viruses attacks via e-mail. The program performs continuous anti-virus check of all arriving e-mail messages and attachments. Also protects against Office document macro viruses. [No longer available as of Jun 2003] AntiViral Toolkit Pro Platinum http://www.kasperskylab.ru/eng/products/ws.asp Real-time anti-virus protection of e-mail messages and attachments for Outlook and other personal mail systems. Blocks attempts to run infected files from received by e-mail. Designed for network use. JustBeFriends http://www.rstcorp.com/justbefriends/ An alternative to Microsoft's Outlook E-mail Security Update, this tool prevents the spread of e-mail borne viruses by controlling the ability of other applications to access Outlook. Works with all versions of Outlook. Requires Windows NT or Windows 2000. Free. TFS Secure Messaging Server http://www.tenfour.com/Secure/index.htm Multi-purpose messaging firewall that operates between the Exchange Server and the Internet. Filtering by sender, recipient, domain name, keywords, attachment size and type. Personalized disclaimer signatures. Server-based message encryption/decryption using S/MIME or OpenPGP. Archiving inbound/outbound messages. Virus scanning using multiple programs. |
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Updated Utilities |
Nelson Organizer http://www.caelo.com/index.html Version 1.1.061 makes Nelson Organizer provide the same level of attachment security settings as the Outlook E-mail Security Update. It also includes some other improvements and fixes. Outlook 2000 Collaboration Data Objects Update Security http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/esecup/ol2000cdo.htm This patch is a follow-up to the Microsoft Outlook E-mail Security Update and extends that patch's automation and attachment security to applications using CDO. Word 2000 SR-1 Update Mail Command Security http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/downloaddetails/Wd2ksec.htm Another follow-up to the Microsoft Outlook E-mail Security Update, this patch for Word 2000 closes a vulnerability that could theoretically have allowed messages to be sent through HTML or plain text WordMail or the "Office envelope" feature. ZipOut 2000 http://www.microeye.com/zipout Version 2245 improves compatibility with the Microsoft Outlook E-mail Security Update, eliminating a warning dialog that appeared when Outlook started. |
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More Information |
ISSN 1523-7990 |
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Updated Apr 07 2008
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