Virus writers focus on image bug
A critical weakness found in many Microsoft programs looks like it is about to be exploited by virus writers.
The bug only came to light last week, but code is now circulating that could be used to attack vulnerable machines.
Some security experts said conditions were right to turn the bug into a widely exploited problem.
But others said there was still time to patch machines and ensure that virus writers were prevented from scoring a big success.
Microsoft issued a critical security alert last week telling users that there were problems with the way Jpeg images are handled by Windows and many other programs it makes.
The alert said that, theoretically, a malicious attacker could take over a vulnerable machine using a carefully crafted image that contained code to exploit the bug.
