Warning: This simple command can damage your Windows computer's drive

Specifically, according to researcher Jonas L, if a hacker can destroy data if it tricked the user into activating a simple command. This command is cd c::$i30:$bitmap and it can also be used on other drives like D, E.

Warning : You should not try to run this command using Command Prompt on your computer. If curious, you can try it out on a virtual machine. TipsMake will not be responsible if you lose data after trying to run this command on your computer. Alternatively, this command can be activated if you paste the line c::$i30:$bitmap into the address bar of your browser and press Enter.

Testing this command on a virtual machine, some people confirmed that their C drive was completely inaccessible. Meanwhile, some others reported that their computer just activated the system to scan and repair the drive and then work normally.

TipsMake falls into the latter case. We ran a reluctant test of accidentally activating this command while looking for validation information. As noted above, this malicious command is triggered even if you copy / paste c::$i30:$bitmap into the address bar of your browser and press Enter.

Microsoft has been notified of this issue, but has not made a statement yet. Security researchers say hackers have a variety of sophisticated ways to exploit this vulnerability. Therefore, users should be careful with the files and links attached to emails or messages.

Micah Soto

Update 18 January 2021