Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

New Security Flaw Found in Windows Vista

by Tim Stevens on November 24, 2008 at 09:40 AM

Vista's Core Shown to be Vulnerable
We've certainly shown, again and again, how Windows XP has no shortage of security flaws, but thus far Vista has been relatively free of issues. That's good news for Microsoft, since Vista looks like it will provide the foundation of the upcoming Windows 7. However, one crack in that foundation has been discovered that could allow hackers to corrupt the core of the system and hide software on your machine.

The core of the system is called the kernel, and there's a flaw in Vista's, which could be exploited by software that you download and run on your machine. It could allow that malicious software to install a so-called "rootkit," secretly running in privileged mode, where it can do anything it likes. This is the sort of shady software that made headlines when Sony illicitly installed it on users' machines back in 2005.

Right now, the risk of this flaw being exploited is low, so Microsoft is going to wait for its next regularly scheduled update to fix it. But, as always, watch where you click and what you download. [From: CNET News]

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, kernel, rootkit, security, security flaw, SecurityFlaw, top, vista, windows, windows vista, WindowsVista

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular