Employees connecting portable media players could be putting networks at risk, with the discovery of a new vulnerability that could allows hackers to take remote control of users’ machines and execute malware.
According to Microsoft, a specially-crafted .asx could be copied to the target computer, either from a html file or from a portable device connected to the PC. As such, there is the potential for unauthorized users to connect devices to PCs in the office which then allows hackers outside the building to access confidential files on the network.
Security consultants, Secunia, have rated the vulnerability as ‘highly critical’.
