Security alert for Windows7 and Vista users

I subscribe to a couple of Window users sites and apparently Windows “gadgets” are not protected against malware and need to be disabled urgently

 At next week’s annual hacker gathering in Las Vegas — Black Hat USA 2012 (more info) — Mickey Shkatov and Toby Kohlenberg will deliver their presentation, “We have you by the gadgets.” As is common for Black Hat presentation pre-announcements, there are as yet few details. But Shkatov and Kohlenberg promise, “We will be talking about the Windows gadget platform and what nastiness can be done with it, how are gadgets made, how are they distributed, and, more importantly, their weaknesses. … As a result, there [are] a number of interesting attack vectors that are interesting to explore and take advantage of. We will be talking about our research into creating malicious gadgets, misappropria! ting legitimate gadgets, and the sorts of flaws we have found in published gadgets.”

Much to their credit, Shkatov and Kohlenberg have been in talks with Microsoft, apparently divulging some of their findings. (The point of Black Hat is to reveal detailed information on how new security exploits work, thus pushing software developers into rapidly patching their code.)

More details at WindowsSecrets.com.

6 thoughts on “Security alert for Windows7 and Vista users”

  4. Ara: Like all Windows security updates, this one should come with the disclaimer. DO NOT FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.

    From the fix.

    To enable or disable this Fix it solution, click the Fix it button or link under the Enable heading or under the Disable heading. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and then follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.

    Enable Disable

    Disable Windows Sidebar and Gadgets Enable Windows Sidebar and Gadgets
    Microsoft Fix it 50906 Microsoft Fix it 50907

    Er. Not quite but close enough for Microsoft.

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