Share And Earn! Click An important security breach related to the shortcuts of Microsoft Windows products is currently being exploited by different types of malware programs, and this results in the appearance of more harmful versions that exploits this vulnerability. A new hotfix supplied by G Data is available for free.
Just like media press releases have shown, the first approaches of this vulnerability weren’t considered to be of increased interest. As a response, the G Data specialists have developed a security utility program ( hotfix ) named ” G Data LNK Checker” that blocks the automatic execution of this malware file and creates the regularly used icons, that are considered to be safe. The user is thus protected against “lnk file” threats. The program is available for free and can be downloaded for free here: http://www.gdata.de/support/downloads/tools
” This recent security breach offers hackers a wide range of new possibilities to infect a computer. All they have to do is to ensure that a .link file is displayed on the computer. The malware file, is not necessarily placed on the computer, it can even be on the Internet” says Ralf Benzmueller, head of G Data Security Labs. ” Not only flash drive users are affected. In the IT network of a company, for exampe, it’s enough to save an infected file on the storage units of the network. Even base software, like text editing programs and email clients can offer the possibility to display shortcuts. This is why the potential exploitation risks of this vulnerability is huge. We expect that this security breach to be massively exploited in a very short time” he also said.
The specialists from G Data hae developed the “G Data LNK Checker” fix after a detailed analysis of the scenario of this security breach. The utility works independently of the security suite already installed on users computers and it completes it with a generic protection against automatic execution of malware through LNK files.After the installation, G Data LNK checker monitors the creation of shortcuts and stop the automatic execution of the malware code. The malware mechanism is used only in some cases, for example, icons used to view the control elements of the system.
There is the possibility that applications that are considered sure to be exploited by this recent malware program. If the user decides to double click on the LNK file that is marked by being dangerous by the application, they need a quality anti virus solution.
” G Data LNK checker” can be uninstalled just like any other software. The program runs on all Windows operating system, even on Windows XP. Windows XP service pack 2 users can consider themselves protected by G Data LNK Checker, even if the official support for this operating system has recently ended.
Each Computer that runs on a Windows based operating system has shortcuts on it’s desktop. This offers one-click access for the most important programs and files. This useful feature is used repeatedly, abusively, by this malware, just like in this recent case where Microsoft admitted a “0 day exploit” regarding all the new versions of Windows. In this case, the icon display mechanism is exploited by executing the malware sequence and eventually getting control over the PC.
Microsoft reacted right away and released a solution ( hotfix ) that resolves the problem, but this has an impact on all shortcuts: they lose their icons! This is not viable solution for fixing the problem.
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