Beware of This Text String Which Can Crash Windows and Damage Your Drive
Hackers exploit a strange bug that allows a simple text string to “damage” the hard drive of your Windows 10 or Windows XP computer if you extract a ZIP file, open a specific folder, or even click a Windows shortcut. The hacker adds a text string to the location of the folder, and the moment you open it, bam – hard drive problems.
Or, you might assume that when Windows 10 displays the “Restart to fix hard drive errors” warning. Your data is most likely ok, but you still have to run chkdsk to be sure.
The bug was first discovered and disclosed by security researcher Jonas L. , then Will Dorman of the CERT Coordination Center confirmed these findings. According to the doorman, this flaw is one of many similar issues in Windows 10 that hasn’t been addressed for years. Even worse, there are more ways to carry out the attack besides just opening the folder.
According to tests by Bleeping Computer , the text string appears to be effective, even if the shortcut icon is simply pointing to a place with garbled text. You also don’t need to click or open the file; Just making it visible on your desktop is enough to carry out an attack. The text string also works in ZIP files, HTML files, and URLs.
Microsoft is investigating the issue, but it is not known if and when a fix will appear. A company spokesman told The Verge :
“We are aware of this issue and will provide an update in the next release. The use of this method is based on social engineering and, as always, we encourage our clients to practice good computer skills online, including being careful when opening unknown files or accepting file transfers. ”
Until then, don’t click on suspicious links or open unknown files. However, this is an unusual error that can be exploited in many ways, and it is possible that the text string may appear in unexpected places.
However, you are not completely screwed up if the error damages your hard drive. You may need to run an automatic or manual scan and repair of the disk, but it is possible that this whole process could do more damage to your computer than intended. Our advice? Back up your files in case you run into this weird situation – or in case of unintentional data loss. You can never be too careful. Thus, if you absolutely need to reinstall Windows from scratch , it won’t be a disaster, but just a nuisance.