Here’s a new vulnerability in Apple’s QuickTime program, discovered just recently (and published today). A computer can become vulnerable if the following events happen:
- You have Quicktime version 7.x installed (any version beginning with 7.)
- Your computer uses Windows XP or Windows Vista
- You use FireFox for web browsing (IE 6, 7, and Safari are safe from this vulnerability for the now)
- QuickTime is your default media player
- You visit a site hosting a malicious video file that takes advantage of this exploit.
Chances are you don’t meet all of the above criteria, but since there are so many computers on the internet now there would still be a large number of people who do.
The damage from this could be anything for now. Since the exploit has been published malicious hackers all over the world are probably busy writing viruses and trojans to take advantage of it.
So when Apple releases an update be sure to install it. And if you use a good antivirus package it won’t be long until they release a new update (this is why it’s important to keep your antivirus program updated).
Details have been published here.