Update your Computer ‘Now’

A statement released by the US Department of Homeland Security has warned all the PC users to be aware of a bug, which if exploited, could put a PC under the control of an attacker. The statement released advises the Window PC owners to update their systems or be prepared to face hackers.

The statement said that system users should apply Microsoft security patch MS06-040 as quickly as possible. The security patch will reduce the risk of exposure.

Director of vulnerability research at the security firm nCircle, Mike Murray said that the threat should be taken as serious. He said that these are no false alarms and a major worm attack is just a few days away.

The announcement was made because the bug has the potential to shut down entire networks and require IT teams to scrub hundreds of thousands of PCs.

The world’s leading anti-virus companies are also supporting the statement released by the Department of Homeland Security.

Syamntec, one of the leading anti-virus company said that 12 security flaws have been identified by Microsoft. Syamntec also said that this threat is not only serious, but also very severe.

Mike Murray said that the people who do not have a good firewall on their computer and haven’t been updating their systems, they will land themselves in hot soup. Murray said that once hackers are inside, they can use the computer any way they want.

If the hackers want to sit there and watch you type in your credit card number, they could. If they wanted to use your computer to send spam they could. If they just wanted to crash your computer they could.

Murray also said that Microsoft Windows is not to be blamed for anything. Since it is such a big and complex company, it can’t be perfect. Even biggies like Apple and Firefox have vulnerability in them.

McAfee, another anti-virus company supports the warning given by DHS and requests their customers to update their systems immediately.