An Indigenous Virus

India has been credited with the invention of the zero. That zero has now been used in another malicious virus attack. A virus, doing the rounds of the webspace, has been primarily detected it India, Iran and Indonesia. The virus creates a malicious shortcut by using a flaw in Shell and executes itself once the drive is accessed through explorer. Automatic creation of .lnk files on pen drive is the symbol of getting hit by Stuxnet malware.

Microsoft has said that Windows incorrectly parses shortcut files allowing execution of malicious code when the icon a specially crafted shortcut file is displayed. Microsoft has also updated its advisory to include automated "Fix It" solutions that mitigates the bug's risk by disabling icons from being displayed for shortcuts, which can prevent attacks attempting to exploit this vulnerability.

The latest Stuxnet malware threat, that is exploiting the flaw in Microsoft Windows Shell, has the security community buzzing with various analysis and interpretations. “I cannot comment on the origin of this malware as it requires a thorough investigation and verifiable facts. Quick Heal Research Labs is doing what is needed to arrive at a feasible solution. Researches should work on facts and findings”, said Mr. Sanjay Katkar, CTO of Quick Heal Technologies.

Unix and MAC users will not be affected. Plug away.