New virus threat in MS Windows

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Suhasini Haidar

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New Delhi: Computer security experts are now facing the threat of a new weakness in Microsoft's Windows operating system. If unchecked hundreds of millions of PCs are at risk of spyware and viruses.

A new flaw has been discovered in Microsoft's popular operating system, which now puts millions of computers around the world at risk of virus and spyware infection.

The defect lies in the way versions of Windows from 98 to XP handle files in the WMF or Windows metafile format.

Hackers can use this loophole to put malicious code into simple image files.

This means that you don't need to download or execute suspicious-looking files to get a virus.

You can get them by just viewing a web page or an email that contains a contaminated image.

And it's not just Internet Explorer. Computers using browsers like Firefox or Opera can also get their PCs infected if they download a file from a site taking advantage of the glitch.

Microsoft has said that it plans to issue a security update in a week's time to tackle the flaw. But internet security agencies are saying that users shouldn't wait for the company to set things right, instead they should download an unofficial fix that is already online.

And of course, when the weather's stormy online, sometimes it's best just to close the windows.