Warning before opening Powerpoint files

[kennysarmy]

A member of staff is having difficulty showing particular slides in a MS Powerpoint.

 

When I open the file I get the warning below:

 

 

The staff member gets no such warning.

 

I will be able to work out what option in my group policies is causing this, but my question is, do others allow teachers to make the "call" on whether the documents are safe?

 

I don't want to stifle creative teaching but I also know if you allow users to click through warnings most will just do so without reading the message!

[kennysarmy]

It's embedded flash content that is causing this issue.

[psydii]

What are people doing about embedded flash going forward? Is there a safe way to have it installed, but restricted to trusted PowerPoints only?

[Primus]

Flash dies on December 31st, we won't be doing any work arounds etc, it will no longer be available after that and anything that relies on it will break.

 

To do otherwise is dangerous as no further updates will be made available for exploits etc.

[psydii]

Yes I know and I have been signalling this for three years. However,

 

From what I can see Flash.exe etc will still work if the standalone player is installed, but not when called for in webpages in browsers. I'm looking for a way to authorise it for only trusted (PowerPoint) documents - to minimise the attack surface.

 

I'd be happy if this isn't possible - but I have some very determined teachers - who may well find a solution - and it will be a bad look if they find it before I do.

[Primus]

Yes I know and I have been signalling this for three years. However,

 

From what I can see Flash.exe etc will still work if the standalone player is installed, but not when called for in webpages in browsers. I'm looking for a way to authorise it for only trusted (PowerPoint) documents - to minimise the attack surface.

 

I'd be happy if this isn't possible - but I have some very determined teachers - who may well find a solution - and it will be a bad look if they find it before I do.

 

I wouldn't be doing this, I would actively be blocking it and justifying why.

[Duranis]

Sorry it's not answering your question but I would be sending them this:

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/alert-targeted-ransomware-attacks-on-uk-education-sector

 

And pointing out that this part includes Flash.

• Vulnerable Software or Hardware: Unpatched or unsecure devices have commonly been used by ransomware attackers as an easy route into networks.
  

 

I stopped supporting Flash for pretty much everything used here quite awhile ago and said that from the end of the year what little support I gave to it will be ending (to give them plenty of chance to find alternatives). There was some push back from some teaching staff but thankfully in this case I had support from SLT. Data protection trumps the ability to use outdated software.

Edited November 25, 2020 by Duranis