New flaw exposed PC's to hackers

San Francisco - A new security flaw exposing hundreds of millions of Windows personal computers to easy infiltration by hackers worsened over the New Year weekend, with Microsoft failing to issue an official patch on Monday. The flaw, which stems from the way the Windows operating system treats image files, allows hackers to install adware, viruses and bugs on any computer used to view an infected image. The flaw was announced last week and took a turn for the worse over the weekend when a group of hackers published the source code they used to exploit it. The vulnerability is considered a major risk because it infects computers when users view any web page, email or instant message that contains a contaminated image. Though Microsoft had not released a patch for the problem by late Monday, an open source fix was made available by the well-respected security firms Internet Storm Center and F-Secure. Internet security officers also advised users to make sure they have effective anti- virus software. The news was the latest security problem for Microsoft, whose Windows operating system runs some 90 per cent of the world's personal computers and has been repeatedly compromised by hackers. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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LaszloJan 3rd, 2006 - 16:58:35

So where do I go to get this hole pluged if microdoft has not come out with a patch? Will Norton vorus protect me?

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