Microsoft Office Genuine Advantage (OGA)

Microsoft moved to the next stage of anti-piracy in its release of the Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) update. It was released last week as an Important update and checks Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007 installations.

"Office Genuine Advantage Notifications (KB949810) Download size: 712 KB Update type: Important Office Genuine Advantage Notifications is part of Microsoft’s effort to reduce software piracy. Installing this software will help confirm that the copy of Office install on this computer is genuine and properly licensed. If the copy of Office installed on the computer is not genuine, the software will provide periodic reminders to help you take appropriate action and protect yourself from security threats posed by counterfeit software."

Regardless of whether you have Automatic Updates set to automatically download and install, it is necessary to approve the license agreement before the OGA installation will continue. Note that OGA cannot be removed after installation nor can the messages be stopped if your Office installation fails the anti-piracy test.

Accept the license terms and click Finish to install

In the event you receive a "This copy of Microsoft Office is not genuine" message after installing OGA, please visit Genuine Microsoft Software and click on Validate Office, then restart your computer.

Be careful to avoid the pitfalls described in the predictions described by Tom Kelchner of Sunbelt Software.

"-- A news story in the next few weeks about somebody’s discovery of a mechanism to defeat or sidestep OGA security.

-- The availability of patches, or entire reverse engineered Windows operating systems and Office versions that suppress or evade the OGA nag screens. The pirated apps will probably attempt to evade updates. The net result will be that they also will avoid patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities.

-- Trojanized Windows Office versions that are distributed as apps that evade the Windows Genuine Advantage mechanisms.

-- Malicious spam advertising the above.

-- Yet more bot-riddled machines in China."

Only get Microsoft updates from Microsoft Update or Automatic Update, not third parties. Remember, Microsoft updates are never sent via e-mail nor are they advertised or available on non-Microsoft websites.

For additional information on OGA Notifications, please visit Genuine Office Support.

References:

• Microsoft Genuine: Genuine Microsoft Software
• Microsoft KB 949810: Description of the Office Genuine Advantage Notifications application
• Press Pass: Safety First: Beefing Up Anti-Piracy Features in Microsoft Office
  
  
  • "As the piracy trade becomes more sophisticated, the Microsoft Office Genuine Advantage program adopts an end-to-end approach to protect Office customers from the risks of counterfeit software."

• Security Fix: Microsoft Expands Office Anti-Piracy Program
• Sunbelt Blog: Microsoft rolls out next phase of Office Genuine Advantage

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, How-to, security, update, Office

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