Hackers take advantage of a strange bug where a simple text string can ‘damage’ the hard drive of your Windows 10 or Windows XP computer when you extract a ZIP file, Open one specific folder or even click on a Windows shortcut. The hacker adds the text string to the location of a folder, and when you open it, bam-problems with the hard drive.
Or so you would assume if you have a The “restart to fix hard drive errors” warning appears in Windows 10. Chances are your data is fine, but you still need to run chkdsk to be sure.
The bug was first discovered and revealed by a security researcher Jonas L., thereafter Will Doorman of the CERT coordination center confirmed thisthe findings. According to Doorman, the error is one of many similar problems in Windows 10 that hasn’t been addressed for years. Even worse, there are more ways to carry out the attack than just opening a folder.
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According to tests by Bleeping Computer, it appears that the text string is effective even as a shortcut icon simply points at a location with the damaged text. You don’t have to click or open the file either; only having it visible on your desktop is enough to carry out the attack. The text string also works in ZIP files, HTML files and URLs.
Microsoft is investigating the problem, but it is not clear if or when a solution could emerge. As a company spokesman said The edge:
“We are aware of this issue and will provide an update in a future release. Using this technique relies on social engineering and as always we encourage our customers to practice good computing habits online, including caution when opening unknown files or accepting file transfers. “
In the meantime, do not click on suspicious links or open unknown files. That said, this is an uncommon bug that can be exploited in various ways, and it is possible for the text string to appear in unexpected places.
However, you are not completely screwed if the bug damages your hard drive. You may need to run an automatic or manual disk scan and repair, but it is possible that this whole process is doing more damage to your PC than intended. Our advice? Save your files backed up in case you have one strange situation like this-or for any accidental data loss. You can never be too careful. That way, if you absolutely to have to install Windows from scratch, it won’t be a disaster, just a hassle.