27,500 Vietnamese computers infected with 'Shortcut' virus

As of today, network security company Bkav has counted 27,500 infected computers in Vietnam using the vulnerability in Windows Shortcut file .

According to Vu Ngoc Son, director of research department of Bkav company, the global computer system as well as computers in Vietnam are at risk of being attacked by viruses due to the vulnerability in Windows Shortcut file. The bug was discovered on July 10, 2010, and there is no patch (zero-day vulnerability).

As long as the user opens the USB device that contains the Shortcut file with a vulnerability, the virus will automatically infiltrate the computer even if the Autorun function has been disabled. Since then, hackers can take full control of the computer to perform information theft, destroy data, Bkav warns.

While the Microsoft manufacturer has not yet released a patch for the vulnerability, Bkav's monitoring system has found that there are three virus strains taking advantage of the flaw to infiltrate and undermine users' computers. As of today, 27,500 computers in Vietnam are infected with this virus.

According to Bkav's statistics, about 97.4% of computers in Vietnam use Windows operating systems, including Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 . Most of these computers are at risk of being infected with viruses that exploit vulnerabilities in Shortcut file.