Sophos security firm released a tool on Monday for Windows users, in an effort to block any attacks that try to exploit the un-patched Windows shortcut files. The tool has been known to help the users of Windows Vista and XP series by blocking any bugs that may help potential attackers to cause damage.
The tool is dubbed as:
• Sophos Windows Explorer Protection Tool
Sophos security firm released this tool because they wanted to protect users until Microsoft officially released an updated/revised patch for it. Wisniewski from Computerworld said that the tool simply replaces the way Windows icon handler deals with the applications. So far, Microsoft has refused to condone the Sophos tool because the company has been known for its exclusivity.
“Microsoft doesn’t handle or entertain 3rd party tools of any kind.” Said Jerry Byrant – group manager with the Microsoft Security Response Center. We recommend our users to apply our previous patches to deal with any known issues at this time.
Sophos said that the vulnerability lies in the way Windows deals with the shortcuts. This exploit isn’t new to Windows users because it was pointed out about a month ago by the VirusBlockAda computer security agency. A couple of days later, Microsoft officially released a patch to fix the bug but it wasn’t known to work perfectly at that time.
Maybe this was one solid reason for Sophos to release the revised version of the same tool that Microsoft released earlier. Wisniewski defended the Sophos version of the tool by saying that the tool doesn’t modify any existing features of the existing Microsoft patch. But it does serve its purpose in a more enhanced manner.
