Microsoft's 'Black Screen of Death' Patched...By Hackers

Last week, Chinese hackers were posting fake links promising to fix Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s "black screen of death" -- the links lead to malware that attempts to attack visitors' computers.

But it appears that at least one link that Chinese hackers have posted is the real deal -- a "patch" to repair the "black screen of death." The "black screen of death," a reference to the infamous Microsoft "blue screen of death" that appears following a system crash, describes what happens to PCs running unauthorized versions of Windows after they're detected by Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program.

WGA, as implemented in China, seeks to curtail the use of illegally copied versions of Windows by setting desktop background color of unauthorized Windows installations to black. It's an aesthetic punishment rather than a functional one.