Windows Vista Flaw: Your System is at Risk!

For months now Microsoft has been promoting its newest and most secure software, Windows Vista. This new software was supposed to make our lives fast, better, and more secure. In fact Microsoft Corporation was advertising this new product as "The most secure operating system to date." So when millions of users bought the product and installed it on their PC's we all thought that we were safer then ever before, but we were all wrong.

While Windows Vista is probably the most secure Windows system to date, one flaw has recently been uncovered. A hole in the systems related to the mouse curser was discovered, and has been exploited since the installment of the system. It was announced on Thursdays March 29th in an e-mail to users of the new Vista system that there could be a potential problem that hackers could exploit.

The problem lies in the ",ani" files within the system. These files dictate the animation of the mouse when the computer is processing information, like when you start a program and the mouse turns from the arrow curser into a little timer. It is these files that hackers have found flaws with the system an in doing such have gained access to your computer and could possibly manipulate your programs and much much more.

With the exploitation of this flaw hackers could potentially gain access to any and all passwords that you use on your computer. This means personal information like bank account numbers, and credit card numbers could be a potential risk. Other things being done is the installation of malicious software and spyware programs. It is already hard enough to keep these vile programs and unauthorized software out of our computers, and now hackers and companies looking to benefit from this design flaw have another rout of access to our computers.

Keyloggers are also a big concern. These programs install silently on your computer and record your every move. From what you're typing to websites visited. These programs are extremely dangerous and are one of the major causes of identity theft. Hackers gain access to your personal information and then turn around and sell it to anyone willing to pay top dollar. Credit card numbers, bank account access ect. Are all at risk and could be potential targets of this latest attack by hackers.

Microsoft has commented on the flaw saying that the attacks have been very limited and are in no way considered large scale. The first indication of the flaw was actually in China. A group of hackers there discussed the design flaw on a message board and apparently were going to use this to their advantage in the online game "World of Warcraft" hacking users accounts and then selling off the items online for profit. We are all just very lucky that this was their only intention. Since that time however more and more hackers have discovered the hole in the ani. Files and have begun to use this information to their advantage.

System that have been diagnosed with the flaw are Windows Vista, Windows XP service pack 2 and Windows 2000. If you have any of the above operating systems then please take extra caution when surfing the web, opening emails and downloading anything. Although no reports of email threats have been detected, it is always better to be safe rather then sorry. Also those effected have been known to have been running Internet Explorer and all of its versions. Those running Fire Fox have not reported anything out of the ordinary as of yet.

Microsoft is still debating on what to do about the problem. They have talked about releasing a patch to fix the problem, and also waiting until their next service update, although users are hoping for a patch to fix the problem because it would be a lot quicker and less of a hassle to use. Microsoft does admit that they made a design flaw but still says their product, Windows Vista, is the most secure product on the market.

No system can ever be 100% certain that it is secure and the Microsoft Corporation is no different. They make mistakes, however we the public expect them to fix these mistakes in a timely manner. Until a definitive solution can be found to fix the current problem it is advised that you take extra caution while browsing the web, because you never know who could be waiting to access your personal information.