Posted by Graham Cluley, Jul 16, 2010 10:36 AM AS on Darkreading.
A newly discovered piece of malware has created a buzz in the security industry.
The Stuxnet rootkit can infect a Windows PC from a USB drive automatically, even if Windows Autoplay and Autorun are disabled.
That shouldn't, of course, be possible, but it appears that the malware is exploiting a previously unknown vulnerability in the way that Windows handles .LNK shortcut files, allowing the malignant code to execute automatically if the USB stick is accessed by Windows Explorer. Once the rootkit is in place, it effectively enters "stealth-mode," cloaking its presence on the infected PC.
