PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Security software vendor Sophos has made available a free tool to address the Windows shortcut vulnerability.
The descriptively named Windows Shortcut Exploit Protection Tool protects Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 systems from the as-yet unresolved vulnerability with LNK files which can result in a computer system being compromised just by viewing a directory with a compromised shortcut inside.
Sophos says the software will work with existing anti virus software without conflicts. It will also notify the user if it has blocked a malicious shortcut file.. The vulnerability is particularly nasty because it can easily spread around by physical media such as USB thumb drives.
As yet Microsoft hasn’t issued a patch which has lead some vendors such as Sophos to provide stop-gap tools such as this.
